Rival Magic: I has it!

Games Discussion Ars Magica
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Here's a Thumbnail sketch, anyone who knows better (such as CJ) please correct me if I've got something wrong.

Historically, a gifted person found Virgil's tomb in the second half of the twelfth century and took out a book by virgil describing his magic (Virgil was a great magician it turns out, apparently this is consistent with period folklore). The Augutans are a new player in the setting as of 1220.

This fellow memorized the book and used the magic he got from it to start a tradition of court wizards with the goal of creating a new roman empire. Their present tool/ hero selected to accomplish this task is the Holy Roman emperor.

Their magic has three not completely related abilities.

They have a method of divining answers to questions by randomly choosing passages from the Aeneid and reading them. this is somewhat similar to Hermetic Divination from Mystery cults but is different enough that the separate mechanics are a boon. (in fact it looks to play more smoothly but I haven't tried it yet).

They have a method of making wards with if/then loops in them much like the watching ward spell. They have a whole mess of different sorts of effects that they can place in the wards but the range of effects is not as broad as hermetic magic (what is?). The big deal here is that they can throw up permanent until dispelled spell containers without any vis. They can make several wards a day and still have time to out in a full eight hours at the office so to speak. So, given sufficient preparation on the part of the storyguide, members of the Augustan Brotherhood can make life exceptionally difficult for hermetic magi who try to mess with their plans and inflict this difficulty without even being present to take their comeuppance from the aggrieved PC's.

Finally they have a method of creating animated objects. It looks long and hard process for the Augstans to pull off but the objects get might (they're animated by a sort of synthesized magical spirit) they can learn and they can be packed full of the effects detailed with their warding magic.

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There seems to be significant limit on the breaking of the Limit of Energy.

The Amazon Spell that "heals" lost levels of Fatigue causes the target to go unconscious after it receives the 5th casting of it...

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I confess that I haven't entirely figured out the vitkir either but from my reading of it and from the general complexity, I get the feeling that it does support a broad range of effects and themes, certainly including dark destructive forces. If it doesn't, then it really isn't worth all the player effort to figure out the system.

There are specific runes for weather, ocean, ice, and harvests, among other things. I don't see why you can't use this to cause floods, storms, crop failures, etc. And if the dwarves - who are sometimes at cross purposes with the Aesir - are renowned rune magicians, I don't see why humans who align with giants shouldn't be. There's even one rune in the elder futhark - Thurisaz - which Hedge Magic translates as "ogre" but which is often instead translated "giant".

I'm not going to keep writing and dumping on Rival Magic. I haven't even read it, after all, and I wish Atlas success with the line in general. But I'd really rather that they tried to work with, and elaborate on, rules and material that's already been published rather than further complicating the game mechanically.

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I wants it, and can't get it:

amazon.com/Rival-Magic-Magic ... AUYH9DQFZH

OUT OF STOCK.

:cry:

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And it hasn't turned up on iguk.co.uk yet either.

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I put in my order with www.thewarstore.com on tuesday. It looks like they still have some in stock too!

You missed the last day for guaranteed pre-xmas delivery, but I've ordered from them before and they're very reliable.

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I pre-ordered my copy from Amazon as soon as it was announced on the boards , it has shipped (luckily).
They finally got around to shipping me The Theben Tribunal book after a months wait.
So both will arrive within days of each other , if Australia Post doesnt stuff-up that is.

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Got my copy of Rival Magic today from Amazon when I returned from leave (I ship things to work as it's easier).

I pre-ordered as well from oz...

Looks good. Keen on reading the Augustans sometime soon and the Muspelli.

Soqotrans and Amazons are cool.

Kudos to all.

Lachie

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Wow! I will have to go to my LGS ASAP then! :open_mouth: I didn't think that the books might run out so soon!

Xavi

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I made a petition to one comic/rolling store the last week. I am hoping to know more.

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Amazon's computer orders in unpredictable ways. For Ars Magica books, it always seems to take at least a month of weekly orders -- with each week's order along the way selling out on arrival -- to get to a point where they can maintain it in stock.

In the meantime, I'd suggest Warehouse 23 (warehouse23.com/item.html?id=AG0294) for anyone having trouble locating the book from their local game store; last I checked they do have it in stock (and, completely selfishly, we do get a better margin on sales through Warehouse 23 than any other outlet). Warehouse 23 of course stocks everything we have in print, and usually have a few out-of-print titles around as well.

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I ordered from Amazon the Thursday the OP said he got his (12/16). Amazon uncharacteristically sent it UPS from Maryland (I'm in California) out of a shipment of 5 other books they sent through the USPS. RM showed up the next Tuesday (12/21). That's the fastest I've ever gotten an Ars product, and perhaps the weirdest Amazon transaction I've had where Amazon was the seller.

Lucky Rich

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You can thank Viea for this...

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Sorry got my weeks wrong. Ordered 12/9 got it 12/15. Same difference.

I'm thanking Gullveig. I like the patron spirit thing.

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Well, after missing the post-office yesterday, my copy is now safely on my book shelf. Hmmm xactly six-days in my case too... spooky! :astonished:

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Got it! Yeah!

It only took 12 days since my ordering in my local store in Brussels to receive it. Happy me.

I've not yet opened it because I've bought recently a StarWars book (Force Legacy tome 8 ), Divinity 2 : Dragon Knight Saga (wonderful game - already 45 hours of game and I'm not yet at the middle of the main story... I love being a dragon in the sky), Ruse (not yet played nor opened), Humble BUndle pack 2 (charity action... and we received the Bundle Pack 1 from last year for free because it worked so well), and on steam, almost 15 full games (I like the Christmas promotions... who wants Deus Ex 1 and 2 for 2,69 euros? or the FEAR pack for 9 euros :smiley:)

Exar, busy, very busy to play.

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So my copy of Rival Magic arrived today and I have torn through it, and I like most of what I see.

I hate the Amazons because they are a female-only group, but their magic is pretty nifty and I think their island is cool. I would never use them as is, but with some cultural changes and the stealing of bits of their magic, they can come in handy.

The Augustan Brotherhood, well they are the magic group that I have been waiting for. They are the ones that I like a lot. Their background is pretty nifty and I really like their magic system.

I like how the Practice of Vigilo works, with its schools and its rites, and how to cast a magical rite one adds their rating in the school with their rating in the rite itself. I think that is very very cool and I like it very much.

I love them being court wizards, and I REALLY wish the book provided more detail on how such a thing works, what can be done with it, and how to run games with such a concept being paramount. But they don't and that's sad, but nontheless its all pretty cool.

I love their warding magic, the Animo, and I think its pretty cool what they can do. The various 'magic items' in the form of animations they have are really cool and I think could empower a city and make an otherwise medieval city ten times more amazing then otherwise.

I did have a question on the Animo, though. It states that the limit on effects inscribed is that the Ease Factor of a rite (I guess) cannot exceed twice the Magic Might of the animation. But this doesn't seem to be followed in the examples that were given, unless I am missing something.

For example, the ease factor in the Musica is 21, the Magic Might is 4. Now unless one just takes the base level, which is three, and compares that to the 4.

I am confused by this.

On the Muspelli, well, I am not really sure yet as I think I need to read over that a gain to figure what they are talking about in that group.

As for the Sorcerers of Soqutra, I like them. Their magic is interesting, their culture is cool, their island is awesome, and their fluff seems really really interesting.

All in all, the book is pretty cool and I will need to take some time to analyze that which is going on.

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Personally, on a related topic, what this makes me want to do is create a variant Order of Magic that uses some of the ideas of the above orders and combines it with certain elements of the Hermetic Order. It is something I will have to work on. :slight_smile:

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An Amazon Sorcerer , sidebar , page 16.

But i can see this would have low appeal in most troupes.

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For my sixpence , the Muspelli and Soqotrans have the most appeal.
The Muspelli more so , because all those 4th Ed Scandanavian sourcebooks get revitalised.

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For those of us that are still rival magic - starved, could we get a breakdown of the Augustan brotherhood like the ones for the Amazons and Muspelli? I would really appreciate it :slight_smile: Thx

Xavi