Ars Magica

Ars Magica (abbreviated ArM) is a fantasy role-playing game, set in a world much like medieval Europe and focusing on the lives and adventures of wizards in this setting. It has been published continuously from 1987, and is currently in its Fifth Edition. The goal of Project: Redcap - the site you are reading - is to support this game as a fan-site.

Ars Magica is mostly about wizards who try to excel in the art of magic, hence the name. Its setting is Mythic Europe, a fictional equivalent of Europe in the early 13th century. Unlike the Europe we know, however, Mythic Europe is filled with even more peril and adventures than the historic equivalent was, bearing a notable touch of fantasy and myths.

The current edition of the game, Fifth Edition, is widely seen by the fan community as the best yet. In addition to the Ars Magica Fifth Edition core book, supplements are issued regularly (approximately once per quarter) and the Fifth Edition product line now includes many products. Fifth Edition was published by Atlas Games starting in 2004. Previous editions were published by various publishers, including Atlas Games but also Wizards of the Coast, White Wolf, and more (see History of Ars Magica for more details).

For a gentle introduction to the game, see the Welcome to Ars Magica page.

Major Features

Ars Magica features what is perhaps the best magic system in any roleplaying game. Hermetic Magic is based on ten magical Arts, five acting as "verbs" and ten as "nouns". Magic is created by combining the wizard's skill in the relevant verb and noun. To engulf an enemy in a ball of fire, for example, an Hermetic wizard will "Create Fire" (Ars Magica uses Latin names to the Arts to give a medieval feel, so these would be the Arts of Creo and Ignem). Extensive spell guidelines are used to determine the difficulty of any effect. Hermetic wizards have a list of known spells ("Formulaic" spells) that are pre-calculated (and often playtested) using this system, but can also attempt to cast any magical effect through spontaneously (see spell). Casting "Spontaneous" spells is more difficult, however, which encourages the characters and players to pre-calculate (and learn) their preferred spells. Hermetic magic also allows the enchantment of magic items, and other work in the wizard's laboratory, and is typically increased by poring over books. Hermetic wizards can get quite old, and twisted by their magic (see Warping and Twilight). In short - Ars Magica features an extremely flexible (and powerful) system of magic, that encourages and results in archetypical fantasy-wizard behavior.

The setting of Ars Magica (called Mythic Europe) is perhaps its second drawing point. It is closely based on historical 13th century Europe, to the degree that some groups use the game to engage with medieval history and mindest. However, the setting also puts a lot of emphasis on fantastic elements. Most of these are adaptations of real-world myths and legends, such as the Greek gods, saints, angels, demons, local legends about healing fountains, and so on. Some groups base their games on such legends and myths, and the official products provide numerous adaptations and information as source material for such real-world-legends-inspired adventures. At the same time, the setting also incorporates many fantastic elements drawn from the wild imagination of the authors, with no historical underpinnings whatsoever, and many groups choose to simply play a fantasy game set against the background of a setting that is, superficially, like medieval Europe. Saving Paris from a plague of undead feels quite differently from saving Greyhawk City. With its combination of history and fantasy, the setting serves such games very well too. The setting is therefore quite flexible, supporting everything from a low-magic game about medieval Europe to a high-fantasy game only loosely set against a pseudo-medieval Europe.

Other Features

Character advancement in Ars Magica is largely through the slow accumulation of experience. Characters practice their trade, learn from teachers, read books, and so on, improving their skills over years and decades. The game is thus more "realistic" in this sense, and encourages long-duration sagas that span decades. Wizards, in particular, enjoy great longevity, and may thus achieve great skill in the magical Arts (or some other, more "mundane", skills, if they invest in learning them). They typically spend much of their time learning magical Arts, inventing new spells, enchanting magic items, and so on.

All characters in a typical Ars Magica saga live in, or are otherwise closely affiliated to, a single place, known as the covenant. Thus the combined interests of the characters become the interests of the covenant, which often becomes the central "character" of the story. When the covenant is threatened, everyone is threatened; when the covenant prospers, everyone prospers.

While in most roleplaying games each player controls a single character, Ars Magica encourages troupe style play where each player plays different character(s) in different adventures or game sessions. Each player typically has one main, wizard, character, but also one Companion character that plays the role of the supporting-cast and that can often be played on adventures the main (wizard) character does not participate in. Background characters (called Grogs) are often played jointly by the group as a whole, or are taken on as extra (often, multiple) characters by a player. A typical Ars Magica adventure will thus feature one or two wizards, accompanied by a few companions and a small entorouge of grogs. Each player will control one or more grogs, although he will probably also have a companion or wizard character that will be more pivotal to the story (or, at least, to the saga as a whole).

Combat in Ars Magica is deadly and fairly abstract. Like many roleplaying games, combat is divided into combat "rounds" where each character gets to act on its turn in the round. There are no clear movement rules (see the FAQ entry, Movement), however, and what a character can precisely do on its turn is left somewhat vague. Combat skills are focused on broad technique (such as Single Weapon), are used both to hit and to avoid being hit. Characters may defend other characters, and groups may act jointly and enjoy benefits if properly led and trained to act as a group. Characters' wounds penalize actions, generally leading to a death spiral, and can often be deadly very quickly. Wound recovery without magic is slow and dangerous, as wounds can actually become worse in time. While magic can be used to provide quick and safe healing, this is expensive (requiring vis, a rare commodity) so will not often be used.

The rules for long-term advancement, laboratory work (such as inventing new spells), and in some respects combat are "simulationist", encouraging a 'realistic' perspective and tinkering with their baroque options. In many other ways, however, Ars Magica encourages a more "narrativist" approach to the game. For example, characters receive Flaw-points (see Virtues and Flaws) in return to providing story hooks (see Story Flaw), and design their covenant on the basis of the kind of stories they want to tell. Overall, the game generally allows "simulationist" and rules lawyering in the down-time between adventures, but incorporates significant "narrativist" elements in the rules framing saga, adventure, and character design and, to some extent, which often bear on the sessions themselves.

Legacy Page

The history of this page before August 6, 2010 is archived at Legacy:ars_magica

Major Features

Other Features

See Also

Legacy Page