Summa
[begin:.preamble] Each summa is described by two factors: its level, which represents how much knowledge is contained in it, and its quality, representing how well it is written.
["--Ars Magica Fifth Edition, page 165] [end:.preamble]
Synopsis
A summa (plural, summae) in ArM5 is simply a book that can be studied for multiple seasons. They are an important part of most covenants' libraries. Summa may be used to learn any Art or Ability.
Errata
The first printing of ArM5 contained some confusing text about summae that has been clarified by the official | errata. On page 165, the text in question reads, "Summae: Source - Quality and Level".
[begin:.quote] Not as clear as it might be, true. The called-out sentences in the left-hand column just give the stats for the books. The words after the colon should not be capped. The rules are the same as for everything else: Advancement Total is based only on Source Quality, not level.
["--David Chart, Atlas Games Discussion Forums, 11 Feb. 2005] [end:.quote]
All the text is really supposed to mean is that summae have two statistics: Quality and Level. Contrast with Tractatus, which have only a Quality score (no Level).
Summae in Past Editions
In ArM4, summae were described as books "distilling all that a scholar knows about an Art or Knowledge into a single book." (page 188). The formula for determining the Quality of the summa was somewhat different than in ArM5, but the general rules for studying from them were similar.
In ArM3 and earlier editions, there was only one sort of book. Summae as such did not exist (although all books were similar to summae in that they could be studied for more than one season).
References
- Studying from summae, ArM5 p. 165
- Writing summae, ArM5 p. 165
- Value of summae in a covenant library, ArM5 p. 71
See Also
Legacy Page
The history of this page before August 6, 2010 is archived at Legacy:summa