Hey all. So recently I've been reading through the 5th edition tribunal books and I have say they're my favorite books in the line up. I've read them all and now I'm interested in tribunal books from previous editions however I'd like to know more about them before buying anything. Starting with 3 that look the most interesting could someone tell me what hermetic life is like in stonehenge, Novgorod, and loch leglean tribunals? What makes them special compared to other tribunals? Also how would you rate the books themselves? They any good?
As a recovering academic, I cannot miss a chance to say “As I have written elsewhere…”
2 Likes
Thanks this is really insightful. Is there a magicraft 01?
1 Like
You’re very kind to ask.
Unfortunately there is no #3. Work prevents it.
3 Likes
In general, 5th edition Tribunal books far surpass Tribunal books of previous editions.
Novgorod and Loch Leglean are both "frontier" Tribunals, with large stretches of wilderness, strong mystical forces still competing with the Divine, and lots of Hedge Wizards - whether part of the Order or not. The closest Tribunal in terms of "feeling" is probably Hibernia (particularly for Loch Leglean - for Novgorod, read the description of Pomerania in GotF, and you get a good idea).
Much of what you'll find in their respective books (Lion of the North and The Dragon and the Bear) is strongly tied mechanically to the old Ars Magica editions, and the mechanical stuff has impact on the mystical side of the setting, so it's not quite easy to port over to 5th edition. For example, Loch Leglean is a 3rd edition book, with the usual significant demonic presence, and a version of the Gruagach that is rather different from that in HMRE (an important catch is that Gruagach in 3rd edition can live much, much longer than Hermetic mages, and one of them - Brude Deathless - is still around from the war against the Spider). Novgorod has a lot of information on Slavic Magic (that very closely matches what you find in 5th edition by RoP:F) and on the Mongol Invasion (info on it scattered throughout the 5th edition books, in particular AM - in particular, the chapter on Adamic - and tCatC).
On the other hand, Stonehenge is specifically written to be mechanics-free (and by none other than David Chart, the 5th edition line editor) and although some setting stuff has changed from back then, I'd say Heirs to Merlin it's by far the most directly usable of the thrree books in 5th edition, with lots of info on the mundane side of things too. That said, much of that info has found its way into ArM5 books, such as A&A. As a Tribunal, it's a bit more "civilized", although only recently so, with significant interaction with mundane authorities and a number of inter-covenant conflicts (mostly politics): think Normandy, minus the Hermetic Tournament, and you'll get a feel of the Tribunal.
Since it's all under the Open License (and in fact, were it not, I'd still consider it allowed under a number of Copyright Law provisions) I'll post here the Table of Contents of each of the three books. The page numbers will give you an idea of how much "stuff" there is, but keep in mind that pages in the old editions hold about half as much text as in 5th. Feel free to ask for more info.
LION OF THE NORTH (3rd edition Loch Leglean)
Chapter 1: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Chapter 2: Mythic History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Early Scotland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
The Ascendance of the Scots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
The House of Canmore: Scotland in the 12th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Scotland after 1200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Timelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Kings of Scotland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Kings of Man and the Isles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Earl of Orkney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Timeline of Major Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Timeline of Mundane Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Chapter 3: Hermetic History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
The War Against Damhan-allaidh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Two Orders, the 13th House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
The Order and the Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
The Tribunal Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Chapter 4: Scottish Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
The Borders and the Lowlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
The Highlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
The Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Stone Monuments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Things Scottish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51
Chapter 5: Covenants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
The Covenant of Horsingas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
The Covenant of Crun Clach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
The Covenant of Mac Gruagach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86
Chapter 6: Character Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98
Lowland Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98
Highland Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98
Geasa, Gifts, and Curses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
Gruagach—The Highland Magician . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
Chapter 7: Scenario Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
Other Saga Dates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
Meeting Brude Deathless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119
Cattle Raiding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121
Blood Feud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122
Highland Giants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124
Lord Goulis and the Demons of Monksend Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127
The Return of Damhan-allaidh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130
Appendix 1: Character Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134
Grog Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134
Magi Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
Appendix 2: Gaelic Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
Pronunciation Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
Mythic Scotland at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152
THE DRAGON AND THE BEAR (4th edition Novgorod)
I: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
II: The Slavs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Slavs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Russia: Building the Nation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Russia: Early 13th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Wars of the Early 13th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Poland in the Early 13th Century . . . . . . . . . . 33
Three Polish Cities in 1220. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
The Teutonic Knights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
The Baltic Pagans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
The Livonian Crusade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
The Prussian Crusade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
The Tainting of the Crusade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
III: Slavic Magic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
A Magical Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
The Volkhv Character. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Volkhv Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
The Darker Side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Domestic Slavic Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
IV: Slavic Faerie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Bestiary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Arcadia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
V: Hermetic Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Origins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
The Harmonist/Wilderist Debate. . . . . . . . . . 106
The Covenants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Three Lakes Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Thousand Caves Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Pripet Maior Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Leczyca Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
VI: Mythic Mongols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
The Mongol Military. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
The Mongol Reconnaissance. . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
The Return of the Mongols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
The Middle and Late 13th Century . . . . . . . . 156
Variations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
VII: Saga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
The Novgorod Tribunal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Appendix I: Shamans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Shaman Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
The Spirit World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Shamanic Powers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Shamans in Sagas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
The Mongol Shamans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Appendix II: Slavic Deities . . . . . . . . . . 177
Appendix III: Mystical Artifacts . . . . . . . 186
Appendix IV: Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
HEIRS TO MERLIN (4th edition Stonehenge)
I: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
How to Use this Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Further Reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
II. History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Before the Romans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Romans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Prelude to Arthur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The Saxons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Vikings and Magi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
The Normans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The Civil War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
The Angevins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
III. The Peasants . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Daily Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Law & Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Pastimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
IV. The Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Daily Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Law & Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Pastimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
The Towns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
V. Travel, Trade, and Industry . . . . . 52
Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Trade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
VI. The Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
The Seculars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
The Regulars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
The Sacraments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Ecclesiastical Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
VII. The Nobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Daily Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Social Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
VIII. Law and Governance. . . . . . . . 100
Common Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Rule. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
IX. Wales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Daily Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Law & Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
The Marcher Lords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
The Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
X. The Order of Hermes . . . . . . . . . 113
Daily Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Customs of Stonehenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
The Covenants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
XI. Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Mundane Politics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Hermetic Politics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
XII. Myths and Legends.. . . . . . . . . 142
Merlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Tales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149