Transforming Mythic Europe Chapter Two: The Fourth Estate - Revision history

Borbetomagnus: Added ArM Open Content graphic at top of page to easily identify this content as released under the Ars Magica Open Content attribution.

2025-12-30T15:36:18Z

Added ArM Open Content graphic at top of page to easily identify this content as released under the Ars Magica Open Content attribution.

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:36, 30 December 2025
Line 1:		Line 1:
			[[File:ArM Open License logo.png\|200px\|link=Ars Magica Open Content Conversion Tracker]]

	Having sworn an oath to the Order, magi are forbidden from interfering in mundane events. There are seemingly as many definitions of “interfering” as there are magi, and because of the political nature of Hermetic law and justice, most magi err on the side of caution and remain withdrawn even where their power could make a positive difference.		Having sworn an oath to the Order, magi are forbidden from interfering in mundane events. There are seemingly as many definitions of “interfering” as there are magi, and because of the political nature of Hermetic law and justice, most magi err on the side of caution and remain withdrawn even where their power could make a positive difference.

Yair at 07:45, 26 December 2025

2025-12-26T07:45:50Z

Show changes

Yair at 07:33, 26 December 2025

2025-12-26T07:33:51Z

Show changes

Yair at 06:47, 26 December 2025

2025-12-26T06:47:20Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:47, 26 December 2025
Line 826:		Line 826:
	Local priories and chapels across Mythic Europe provide hospitals in some form or other that tend to the sick and injured. Their success is often limited by the somewhat variable knowledge of those who staff such places, however. Magic can provide a much more reliable means of curing disease and healing wounds by supplementing the efforts of mundane physicians.		Local priories and chapels across Mythic Europe provide hospitals in some form or other that tend to the sick and injured. Their success is often limited by the somewhat variable knowledge of those who staff such places, however. Magic can provide a much more reliable means of curing disease and healing wounds by supplementing the efforts of mundane physicians.

	While not catered for in this chapter, it is not just mundane healing that Hermetic magi can assist with. There are many minor magical ~~tradi~~		While not catered for in this chapter, it is not just mundane healing that Hermetic magi can assist with. There are many minor magical traditions, such as the Ba’al Shem (Realms of Power: The Divine Revised Edition) and the Folk Witches (Hedge Magic) who often act as healers to their communities. If the Order of Hermes wishes to engage with mundane society in this way, it would be sensible to embrace these other traditions too for fear of displacing them and causing unwanted resentment.

			Art & Academe provides a lot of useful information on medicinal magic, including new spell guidelines for the treatment of disease and techniques for magical surgery. Supporting a hospital, or providing cures and treatments for wounds and diseases, may be a politically astute move. It proves that magical power can be applied responsibly, assists others who are engaged in similar work, and addresses a real and present fear.

			Though rare, leper colonies can be found across Mythic Europe. These are charitable institutions that show the mercy and compassion of their benefactors. As well as providing funds, those with power often grant rights to the lepers to collect alms on certain days in order to supplement the colony’s income. The Church often grants indulgences to those who help. Magi, if they are to take their place as a fourth estate, should also show willing and can do so through their magic.

	''tions, such as the Ba’al Shem (Realms of Power: The Divine Revised Edition) and the Folk Witches (Hedge Magic) who often act as healers to their communities. If the Order of Hermes wishes to engage with mundane society in this way, it would be sensible to embrace these other traditions too for fear of displacing them and causing unwanted resentment. Art & Academe provides a lot of useful information on medicinal magic, including new spell guidelines for the treatment of disease and techniques for magical surgery. Supporting a hospital, or providing cures and treatments for wounds and diseases, may be a politically astute move. It proves that magical power can be applied responsibly, assists others who are engaged in similar work, and addresses a real and present fear. Though rare, leper colonies can be found across Mythic Europe. These are charitable institutions that show the mercy and compassion of their benefactors. As well as providing funds, those with power often grant rights to the lepers to collect alms on''		===Living Conditions===
	''certain days in order to supplement the colony’s income. The Church often grants indulgences to those who help. Magi, if they are to take their place as a fourth estate, should also show willing and can do so through their magic.''		Hermetic magic cannot currently directly improve the living conditions modifiers used in aging roles, except through the provision of longevity rituals. Magic can be used indirectly however and, as Covenants pages 111 and 121 describes, it has been used by magi in their own laboratories.
	''Living Conditions''
	''Hermetic magic cannot currently directly improve the living conditions modifiers used in aging roles, except through the provision of longevity rituals. Magic can be used indirectly however and, as Covenants pages 111 and 121 describes, it has been used by magi in their own laboratories. For every 40 levels of spells or enchantments used to improve the target living conditions, residents gain a +1 living conditions modifier. A magus could create devices that drive away rats, balance out the temperature, dispel foul odors, or keep meat from spoiling. As long as the effects are powerful enough, they all contribute to improving the living conditions modifier.''		For every 40 levels of spells or enchantments used to improve the target living conditions, residents gain a +1 living conditions modifier.
	''This, of course, comes at a cost: things under such long-term enchantments gain Warping over time. It is not just people or animals that gain warping, their surroundings do as well. As described in ArM5 page 168, targets under two level 20 enchantments gain two Warping Points each year. Targets under a single level 40 enchantment gain five Warping Points per year. The nearby table shows the progression of the Warping over time including the points at which those targets gain Flaws and then a Virtue. Some may view this as an acceptable trade-off. Of course, mundanes unfamiliar with the notion of Warping or its effects may not pay attention to the risks and request such enchantments regardless. The careful magus ensures that any effects designed to enhance living conditions do not target the individuals themselves but always their environment. An enchantment that makes the castle temperate all year round does not affect the inhabitants, but it may affect the castle itself.''
			A magus could create devices that drive away rats, balance out the temperature, dispel foul odors, or keep meat from spoiling. As long as the effects are powerful enough, they all contribute to improving the living conditions modifier.

			This, of course, comes at a cost: things under such long-term enchantments gain Warping over time. It is not just people or animals that gain warping, their surroundings do as well. As described in ArM5 page 168, targets under two level 20 enchantments gain two Warping Points each year. Targets under a single level 40 enchantment gain five Warping Points per year.

			The nearby table shows the progression of the Warping over time including the points at which those targets gain Flaws and then a Virtue. Some may view this as an acceptable trade-off. Of course, mundanes unfamiliar with the notion of Warping or its effects may not pay attention to the risks and request such enchantments regardless.

			The careful magus ensures that any effects designed to enhance living conditions do not target the individuals themselves but always their environment. An enchantment that makes the castle temperate all year round does not affect the inhabitants, but it may affect the castle itself.

	{\| class="wikitable"		{\| class="wikitable"
Line 883:		Line 892:
	\|}		\|}

			===Longevity Effects===
			Longevity Rituals created for those without supernatural abilities from any realm are less effective than those created for magi. The rules on ArM5, page 101 apply for this. In short, the magus needs a Creo Corpus Lab Total of at least 30. The vis cost is one pawn of vis for every five years that the recipient has lived (rounded up) and the benefit is a +1 bonus for every ten points (or fraction) of the Lab Total.

			There is nothing to restrict a magus from striking a deal with the wealthy and influential to provide Longevity Rituals, and on the face of it there seems to be no undue political influence. But there are three factors to consider.

			The first is the obvious cost of Warping; the beneficiary of the Longevity Ritual gains one Warping Point per year. As discussed under improving living conditions, Warping soon aggregates to form Flaws that could cause real problems to the unprepared. There is no guarantee ahead of time what those Flaws will be and Hermetic magic, at least, cannot control them.

			The second problem is that people start to outlive their welcome, or rather the patience of those in waiting grows short as they see what they consider their rightful positions remaining filled by the incumbents.

			And the third, of course, is the loss of fertility that comes with extending one’s own life. This may not be an issue for magi as they pass their legacy on through their knowledge, but a noble’s legacy is passed through blood.

	{\|style="border-style: solid; border-width: 3px; border-color: chocolate"		{\|style="border-style: solid; border-width: 3px; border-color: chocolate"
Line 888:		Line 907:

	==Longevity Story Seeds==		==Longevity Story Seeds==
			The following seeds are appropriate where mundanes have been given longevity potions.

			'''Too Long an Inheritance''<br>
			The son and heir of one of the covenant’s companions brings a complaint against the covenant for depriving him of his due inheritance. They have bestowed a Longevity Ritual upon the noble’s father and he sees his inheritance slipping away from him; while he ages, his father does not. He demands recompense from the magi in the form of lands or income equal in value to those taken from him by the magi.

	'~~'The following seeds are appropriate where mundanes have been given longevity potions.''~~		'''Oil of Snake and Those Who Trade in Such'''<br>
	~~''Too Long an Inheritance''~~		A bishop approaches a covenant half in anger and half in concern on a matter of some delicacy. He paid a magus handsomely for the secrets of longevity and while he has been carrying out the ritual daily and as instructed, his skin seems to thin, his eyes to line, and his girth to increase. Why has his longevity failed him, he asks? It doesn’t take the magi long to realize that the bishop is not under any Longevity Ritual and never has been. Who is the fraud that has cast the Order in a bad light? A faerie come to show up the venality of the rich? A charlatan trading on the Order’s good name? Or an angel come to test the bishop? Perhaps the question is, which one would be worse?
	''The son and heir of one of the covenant’s companions brings a complaint against the covenant for depriving him of his due inheritance. They have bestowed a Longevity Ritual upon the noble’s father and he sees his inheritance slipping away from him; while he ages, his father does not. He demands recompense from the magi in the form of lands or income equal in value to those taken from him by the magi.''
	''Oil of Snake and Those Who Trade in Such''
	''A bishop approaches a covenant half in anger and half in concern on a matter of some delicacy. He paid a magus handsomely for the secrets of longevity and while he has been carrying out the ritual daily and as instructed, his skin seems to thin, his eyes to line, and his girth to increase. Why has his longevity failed him, he asks? It doesn’t take the magi long to realize that the bishop is not under any Longevity Ritual and never has been. Who is the fraud that has cast the Order in a bad light? A faerie come to show up the venality of the rich? A charlatan trading on the ~~Or''~~
	~~''der’s~~ good name? Or an angel come to test the bishop? Perhaps the question is, which one would be worse?''
	~~''The Need for an Heir''~~
	''The noble who only four years ago gained his Longevity Ritual suffers the tragedy of losing his only son. He now wants to father an heir in the years he has left for fear of his lands being torn apart by squabbling brothers and nephews. If the magi cannot help him, can they broker a deal with a faerie or some other wizard gifted with fertility magic? If they don’t, the Infernal lies in wait to offer a solution to the problem.''

			'''The Need for an Heir'''<br>
			The noble who only four years ago gained his Longevity Ritual suffers the tragedy of losing his only son. He now wants to father an heir in the years he has left for fear of his lands being torn apart by squabbling brothers and nephews. If the magi cannot help him, can they broker a deal with a faerie or some other wizard gifted with fertility magic? If they don’t, the Infernal lies in wait to offer a solution to the problem.
	\|}		\|}
	~~''Longevity Effects''~~
	''Longevity Rituals created for those without supernatural abilities from any realm are less effective than those created for magi. The rules on ArM5, page 101 apply for this. In short, the magus needs a Creo Corpus Lab Total of at least 30. The vis cost is one pawn of vis for every five years that the recipient has lived (rounded up) and the benefit is a +1 bonus for every ten points (or fraction) of the Lab Total. There is nothing to restrict a magus from striking a deal with the wealthy and influential to provide Longevity Rituals, and on the face of it there seems to be no undue political influence. But there are three factors to consider. The first is the obvious cost of Warping; the beneficiary of the Longevity Ritual gains one Warping Point per year. As discussed under improving living conditions, Warping soon aggregates to form Flaws that could cause real problems to the unprepared. There is no guarantee ahead of time what those Flaws will be and Hermetic magic, at least, cannot control them. The second problem is that people start to outlive their welcome, or rather the patience of those in waiting grows short as they see what they consider their rightful positions remaining filled by the incumbents. And the third, of course, is the loss of fertility that comes with extending one’s own life. This may not be an issue for magi as they pass their legacy on through their knowledge, but a noble’s legacy is passed through blood.''

	==Harvests and Livestock==		==Harvests and Livestock==

Yair at 06:42, 26 December 2025

2025-12-26T06:42:19Z

@@ Line 821: / Line 821: @@
 ==Health and Pestilence==
-Along with war, the threat of pestilence and plague ranks with the prospect of failed harvests as among the biggest fears for a society reliant''
+Along with war, the threat of pestilence and plague ranks with the prospect of failed harvests as among the biggest fears for a society reliant on farming. After seeing that magic can alleviate these fears, mundanes start to look upon magi of the Order more kindly.
 ===The Care of the Sick===
@@ Line 829: / Line 828: @@
 While not catered for in this chapter, it is not just mundane healing that Hermetic magi can assist with. There are many minor magical tradi
-''The following tables show the impact on targets subject to enchantments that have been designed to improve the living conditions modifier by +1. They assume that the effect’s targets have no prior Warping Points. The first table assumes two level 20 enchantments.''
 ''tions, such as the Ba’al Shem (Realms of Power: The Divine Revised Edition) and the Folk Witches (Hedge Magic) who often act as healers to their communities. If the Order of Hermes wishes to engage with mundane society in this way, it would be sensible to embrace these other traditions too for fear of displacing them and causing unwanted resentment. Art & Academe provides a lot of useful information on medicinal magic, including new spell guidelines for the treatment of disease and techniques for magical surgery. Supporting a hospital, or providing cures and treatments for wounds and diseases, may be a politically astute move. It proves that magical power can be applied responsibly, assists others who are engaged in similar work, and addresses a real and present fear. Though rare, leper colonies can be found across Mythic Europe. These are charitable institutions that show the mercy and compassion of their benefactors. As well as providing funds, those with power often grant rights to the lepers to collect alms on''
 ''certain days in order to supplement the colony’s income. The Church often grants indulgences to those who help. Magi, if they are to take their place as a fourth estate, should also show willing and can do so through their magic.''
@@ Line 843: / Line 835: @@
 ''Hermetic magic cannot currently directly improve the living conditions modifiers used in aging roles, except through the provision of longevity rituals. Magic can be used indirectly however and, as Covenants pages 111 and 121 describes, it has been used by magi in their own laboratories. For every 40 levels of spells or enchantments used to improve the target living conditions, residents gain a +1 living conditions modifier. A magus could create devices that drive away rats, balance out the temperature, dispel foul odors, or keep meat from spoiling. As long as the effects are powerful enough, they all contribute to improving the living conditions modifier.''
 ''This, of course, comes at a cost: things under such long-term enchantments gain Warping over time. It is not just people or animals that gain warping, their surroundings do as well. As described in ArM5 page 168, targets under two level 20 enchantments gain two Warping Points each year. Targets under a single level 40 enchantment gain five Warping Points per year. The nearby table shows the progression of the Warping over time including the points at which those targets gain Flaws and then a Virtue. Some may view this as an acceptable trade-off. Of course, mundanes unfamiliar with the notion of Warping or its effects may not pay attention to the risks and request such enchantments regardless. The careful magus ensures that any effects designed to enhance living conditions do not target the individuals themselves but always their environment. An enchantment that makes the castle temperate all year round does not affect the inhabitants, but it may affect the castle itself.''
 {|style="border-style: solid; border-width: 3px; border-color: chocolate"
 |style="padding-left: 7px; padding-right: 7px"|

Yair: /* A Growing Awareness */

2025-12-25T22:28:54Z

A Growing Awareness

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:28, 25 December 2025
Line 193:		Line 193:
	==A Growing Awareness==		==A Growing Awareness==
	The covenant must first see the inherent benefits of engaging with the mundane world over staying withdrawn and the problems of continuing to buck convention. The following events highlight the problems that society may have with the actions of magi.		The covenant must first see the inherent benefits of engaging with the mundane world over staying withdrawn and the problems of continuing to buck convention. The following events highlight the problems that society may have with the actions of magi.
	* Some time after the characters rid a parish of its corrupted priest, the priest’s bishop and the parish’s lord try to bring charges of murder against those responsible. Do the magi fight the case, try to prove just cause, or do they ~~ren''~~		* Some time after the characters rid a parish of its corrupted priest, the priest’s bishop and the parish’s lord try to bring charges of murder against those responsible. Do the magi fight the case, try to prove just cause, or do they render up a scapegoat?
	~~''der~~ up a scapegoat?
	* Having been seen collecting vis in woodland near to the covenant, the magi receive summons to explain why they have been thieving and to then make recompense. The woodland does not belong to the covenant and is, in fact, owned by an influential knight who grants rights of forage to his tenants. The magi must negotiate for the right to collect vis in the woods, ensuring that they limit their obligations.		* Having been seen collecting vis in woodland near to the covenant, the magi receive summons to explain why they have been thieving and to then make recompense. The woodland does not belong to the covenant and is, in fact, owned by an influential knight who grants rights of forage to his tenants. The magi must negotiate for the right to collect vis in the woods, ensuring that they limit their obligations.
	* The new bishop of the covenant’s diocese exerts his control over the region, which for the covenant involves greater scrutiny over taxes and even a request to see the charter granting permission to found and maintain the covenant.		* The new bishop of the covenant’s diocese exerts his control over the region, which for the covenant involves greater scrutiny over taxes and even a request to see the charter granting permission to found and maintain the covenant.

Yair at 22:28, 25 December 2025

2025-12-25T22:28:21Z

Show changes

Yair: Created page with "''Having sworn an oath to the Order, magi are forbidden from interfering in mundane events. There are seemingly as many definitions of “interfering” as there are magi, and because of the political nature of Hermetic law and justice, most magi err on the side of caution and remain withdrawn even where their power could make a positive difference. There is another way, however. Magi of the Order of Hermes are the most powerful workers of magic that the world has known...."

2025-12-25T21:06:22Z

Created page with "''Having sworn an oath to the Order, magi are forbidden from interfering in mundane events. There are seemingly as many definitions of “interfering” as there are magi, and because of the political nature of Hermetic law and justice, most magi err on the side of caution and remain withdrawn even where their power could make a positive difference. There is another way, however. Magi of the Order of Hermes are the most powerful workers of magic that the world has known...."

Show changes