What kind of Ars Books do we want more of?

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

What kind of Ars books would you like to see more of?

  • 1. Scenario books - like Tales of Mythic Europe
  • 2. Other non-Hermetic magics - like Rivals & Ancient Magics & Hedge Magic Revised
  • 3. More esoteric Hermetic magic - like TMRE, & perhaps Legends of Hermes & Projects
  • 4. More books on the medieval world - like The Church & Lords of Men, Art & Acadame + City & Gild
  • 5. More 5th ed Tribunal books for Tribunals that have not been covered before like Lion & The Lily, Guardians of the Forest etc
  • 6. 5th ed versions of Tribunals like Iberia, Rome & Loch Leglean that have not been covered for a long time
  • 7. More books about Hermetic life - like Grogs, Apprentices & Covenants
  • 8. More books covering the fringes of Mythic Europe - like the Crade & the Crescent
  • 9. More collections of pregenerated magi, magic items, etc, etc to drop in to a saga without the hard work
  • 10. Somthing else - please define

0 voters

Just out of curiosity, because I have no idea what David is planning beyond the next couple of books, now the Realms of Power and Houses of Hermes series are complete what kind of things do we hope to see next? I am sure this was asked a few times in the past, but never hurts to ask again and I just found the poll creation bit! :slight_smile:

You can select up to THREE options. :slight_smile:

cj x

2

Why did you put TMRE and Projects together?
They very specifically pull in different directions.

3

My "other - please define" is city books.

I'd love to do Palermo. Palermo in period just rocks. Venice too. That'd rock. Paris for a whole book, not just a bit of a chpater in one book. London for a whole book. Cairo for a whole book. I mean, you'd get some of the fun countryside around each (Naples in Salerno for example) but I'd really like that.

I'd also like a quick start game which handles spontaneous magic well for people who have never played before. I have no idea how to do it. The closest I came was the spell menus in "Flight to the Tin Islands". I kee pgoing ot cons and trying to present Ars, and not really being able ot say to people "This right heere is the core bit. This is the magic bit." because I don't want to give everyone a copy of the TeFo base guidelines.

4

My "something else" is, naturally, the 5th ed version of Wizards Grimoire that I keep advocating. Not going to debate the pros and cons of it here.

Beyond that, I'm not sure how much there is left to do beyond scenarios and tribunals... but I'm sure the folks at Atlas will pleasantly surprise me.

Maybe a Companions' book...

5

After "apprentices", "magi" and "grogs", it certainly looks like "companions" should be on the drawing board. it used to be one in 4th edition (medieval tapestry) that we still use quite a lot, so I think it can give ideas. The dcompanion pieces in SR certainly seems to point into what could be a great format for a companions book.

Cheers,
Xavi

6

I voted for the scenario books option because it's the closest thing on the list to the campaign/saga books that I'd like to see. Actually though I don't think the format for Tales of Mythic Europe works. The scenarios are too short to structure whole story arcs around but long enough that they require significant rework to fit into existing games. I want something I can go with as the basis for a long game.

My other general preference is for books that go more deeply into what's already in print, rather than broadening the scope of Ars Magica further. There are more than enough tribunals, mysteries, creature rules, hedge variants, etc. out there already. I'd rather see some of my favorite concepts developed to a more complex level.

7

Only 3 votes - I want them ALL. The only 5th edition items I have failed to buy were Fallen Fane and Calebais: that might have been an error. City books would be a great idea.

I'd like some pre-generated correspondents forthe player magi to interact with; some intrigues to drop into the game, some good generic scenarios ....

What I am less interested in is the more esoteric stuff: we play too infrequently and with players who mostly go nowhere near any of the supplements so there is little scope in my game for the stuff on the periphery.

8

I'd like to see more books along the lines of projects, legends, and Ancient magic (which you've placed into different categories) that provide a goals for a character to work towards. What I consider to be one of the essential distinctions of Ars as opposed to many other RPG's is how personal goals of characters are so very well integrated into mechanics as opposed to having story and mechanics more "siloed". A sequel to any of these would be most appreciated.

Perhaps a book of hermetic original research along the lines of projects

I don't share the desire for a companion book (LoM, C&G, A&A and the Church, to my mind, sort of act as a huge companion book) but along similar lines I would very much like to see a familiar book.

I'd also like to see a book with a big story done up with several mostly compatible multi adventure arcs regarding the same subject the fourth crusade, the mongol invasion, the return of Davnalleous, or the destruction of Iberia by a magical botch. A tapestry of external events that I could weave over 10-20 years of game time. Not all of my players are self starters.

9

A book of spells, also compiling all existing guidelines and hopefully adding more.
And as part of that, a section of example Spontaneous spells, only minimal description needed, instead focusing on including as many "common" ones as possible. This would also help Timothy´s quest to get a testplay set done.

Didn´t get enough options but also scenario books(ie scenarios that can be used in many places with minimal changes) or possible campaign books would be interesting.

And my vote on 8 shouldn´t be considered limited to just the "fringes" but rather just about anywhere in the world.

And getting a tribunal book done for all the RAW tribunals would be a good start. And tribunal books for places not updated for a long time soon after that.

Also a nice idea.

A big +1 to that one. Could be a good thing to combine with a Flora&fauna book.

10

My something else would be something along the lines of WGRE. I've mentioned this in the other thread. I'd love to see things like some more Spell Mastery options, ideas and more animal stats for familiars (and the animal stats are great for Bjornaer), and more.

Chris

11

I'd buy a whole series of these!

Vote changed to "others"!

12

I would love to see a "Magi of Hermes" book. We have Grogs, Apprentices, etc but i would desire a book about Hermetic Culture and Lore. I think that is one of the main attraction of Ars for me (the history of the Order, the Founders, etc), and there is so much that could be written in that book!. Some examples:

  • Famous quotes of the Founders and of the Order (there were several in previous editions of Ars Magica, and sadly they didn´t reach the 5th). I would love to see more!
  • Hermetic dress codes, and notes on Hermetic etiquette.
  • Romantic relationships between Magi, and how they could be affected by magic (i could write a lot about this :stuck_out_tongue:)
  • Magi pastimes. I suppose they would be intellectual / magical pastimes, and i would love a description for example, of Tremere chess (and maybe pastimes depending of House). There could be also rules, and story ideas.
  • More famous members and legends of the Order, even not depending of the House (for example, the history of the first interhouse covenant, and famous covenants that wouldn´t have to be Domus Magnae).
  • Chapter on Familiars and how to roleplay one.
  • Hermetic fairs.
  • Order stories (Tragic Stories about love, for example, o moral stories [infernal/divine], even funny ones!)
  • Hermetic customs (those could vary from Tribunal, or even Covenant, but simple, colorful notes add a lot to a Saga; from what gesture could be considered a deadly insult in the Roman Tribunal, or rules of engangement in meeting a foreign Magus).
  • Stories behind famous spells or devices in the Order (from Aegis of the Hearth to the inventions of Verditius, but many more :stuck_out_tongue:).
  • And lastly, many many Saga ideas and seeds, based in legends and even future historical(global) events.
  • That would be my ideal book, for sure :slight_smile:
13

There are two books along these lines, Magi of Hermes and Legends of Hermes.

14

Well, the two books you mention cover some areas, but there is so much to know! "Magi of Hermes" is centered around the profile of several unconventional mage's profiles, and "Legends of Hermes" have also some juicy details about legends, but the scope of the book, i think, has more to do about adventures and sagas almost ready to play, than being inspirational. The four legends (i think there were four?) are very nice, but shorter (and with more "substance"), more numerous, and without almost any stats, would have been nicer to me :stuck_out_tongue:. Even short stories would be fantastic and very inspirational.
In short, i would like so much more :stuck_out_tongue:

15

While I agree that more campaign oriented books would be great, I'll stick up for ToME. I'm new to ArM5, but I've managed to use 3 of the adventures so far, with some minimal customization, mostly of backround and motivations - changes to the reasons for getting involved as well as the final outcome, but not so much the main storylines.

The Hospitalar's Due:
The grogs were, at this time, not yet covenfolk. They were attached to a crusading army in spain, and tasked with recovering the McGruffin. In this case, it was magic powder that when applied to ale and then quaffed, made men invulnerable to steel for a short time (with, as it turned out, unpleasant side effects).

The Return of the Raiders:
The Grogs are on their way to the covenant, and have stopped in the village to await the redcap who will escort them into the regio. They redcap knows the raiders are coming and is secretly watching, using this opportunity to evaluate the Grogs suitability to the covenant.

The Champions Portion:
My covenant is a modified SE. When a naked Irishman appeared on the covenant grounds with a wild story about a scottish witch, it was easy to get the Ex Misc Pralixian interested. And the "security breech" provided a secondary motivation for another magus to tag along.

I plan on using several others. One will be great to throw at my player with "close family ties," for example.

I imagine I'll use at least half of the adventures in my current saga, which is great for any adventure collection. Those I don't use will still be useful as "idea mines," stealing creatures, magi, locations, etc, for use in my own stories.

16

The thread I started a while back, "ars books I'd like to see," generated some interesting ideas. While some were "books I personally want, but admit lack sufficient audiance and will never be made" many others were more down to earth suggestions.

One I'd like to see is something like "apprentices" in reverse, or "grogs" for magi. Standard character creation best suits magi-at-gauntlet. Advancing a magus 10-100 years via the simplest method results in an inferior character to one who has played through those seasons. Using the most detailed form of character creation, recording all seasonal activities, is not only hugely time consuming, it can generate results that would be unachievable in play, as best-case scenarios can be assumed, in terms of availability of resources.

It would be great to have some guidance on creating more advanced magi, as well as some way to apply "packages" a la grogs. Slap together 5 years of "adventurous mage," 10 of "lab rat mage," another 10 of " political mage" and you could rapidly assemble a competent magus 25+ years out of gauntlet.

17

And I'll add my votes to Tribunal books. I'm running a saga set in Semita Errbunda, so all the tribunal books are useful to me.

And I'd really love to see other areas beyond Mythic Europe get the "cradle and crescent" level treatment:

  • A full 5e book on mythic scandinavia, including Iceland+Greenland. I'd clap with glee even more for a "north seas" book focused exclusively on mythic Iceland, Greenland, and "vinland", as well as the Faroes, Orkneys, etc. This would make a great "adventures+saga arc+setting+rules" book.

I'd love to see a book on North Africa and beyond (Prester John?). I know about South of the Sun, but with all respect to that book, the game and writing has evolved considerably.

Also super nifty would be more on mythic mongols. A good way to frame it might be a saga that tags along with or mirrors one of the historical western expeditions into Mongolia. I imagine a saga arc set sometime after 1220, with the players undertaking a lengthy journey beyond the realms mentioned in C&C, through the Pax Mongolia, perhaps in pursuit of mythic cathay. Ambitious? Yes, but so was C&C.

18

Oh, and one more: Tribunals!

A book that would detail the Grand Tribunal of 1228: story seeds, personalities, politics, locations, etc. Could also include some items, spells, and breakthroughs that might be introduced.

To fill out space, could also include info on the 1221 and/or 1227 regional tribunals. This could be "generic" seeds and stories that could be run around any regional tribunal meeting and/or a short entry on each one.

This wouldn't have to duplicate material in the existing tribunal books as the focus would be on telling stories set at and around the tribunal meetings, rather than just setting background about the tribunals.

19

Mythic europe during various other periodes is a classic.

20

The Order of Mercury - ideas on how this ancient body worked, what some of their rituals were, what their sites looked like. Partly for those who wish to play magi in ancient Rome, partly to provide ruins and ancient magic for 13th century magi to rob.