FAQ

This article is about a list of frequently-asked questions. For a list of articles that address frequently-asked questions, see Category:FAQ.

If you would like a beginner's introduction to Ars Magica, please see our Welcome to Ars Magica page.

These questions, and answers, come from the Ars Magica Fan Community. The answers are unofficial but represent the best judgment of a large body of experienced players.

Basic Questions

• What is Ars Magica?
• What is a tabletop roleplaying game?

The Ars Magica Product Line

• What Products are available?
• What ArM5 products are planned for the near future?
• Which Ars Magica book(s) should I buy?
• Can one of the authors or playtesters leak details of (upcoming product)?
• Is there a d20 conversion for Ars Magica?
• Why do some of Ars Magica supplements have hard covers (and others have soft covers)?
• What is the history of the Ars Magica game?

Mythic Europe

• What is the Medieval Paradigm?
• How is Ars Magica related to the World of Darkness (also known as Storyteller) games?
  • What is this about Tremere and vampires?
• How do I say (something) in Latin?
• In Ars Magica, are the pagan gods Magical, Faerie, or what?
• Can you recommend some good reading material that can inform or inspire my Ars Magica game?

Fan Community

• Does Ars Magica have an active Fan Community?
• How many people make up the Ars Magica community?
• How can I find a troupe to join?
• Can one of the authors of (upcoming supplement) give us some inside details?
• Can I write a supplement for Ars Magica?
• Who is in charge of the Ars Magica product line?
• Can I write an entry for this FAQ?

Fifth Edition

Newcomers may also find the introduction to Game Mechanics informative.

• What are the differences between Fourth Edition and Fifth Edition?

Rules Status

• Are there Errata for Fifth Edition?
• I need an official ruling on (X)
• Why has (rule X) been removed from Fifth Edition?
• Why was (X) changed in (new edition / new product)?
• Are the older Tribunal books still useful?
• Will Atlas make available free downloads with conversion stats for older supplements to Fifth Edition?

Characters, Abilities, and Virtues and Flaws

• Why are something called "Body Levels" listed on the character sheet? What are they?
• How does the Faerie Magic Ability (on the Merinita template, ArM5 page 27) work?
• Are the Minor Story Flaws, like Blackmail and Animal Companion, really Flaws?
• Do Virtues that affect the way a character gains experience points - Wealthy, Secondary Insight, Elementalist, and so on - affect starting experience points?
• Does the Puissant Ability Virtue affect what the character can teach and write? Does Puissant Magic Theory let a character use more vis in the lab?
• How exactly does the Fast Caster Virtue work?
• What are the statistics for a shapeshifter (such as a Bjornaer magus or a character with the Shapeshifter Virtue) in beast form?
• Has the social effect of the Gift changed in Fifth Edition?

Spells

Forms & Techniques

• What Form is electricity?

Spell Effects

• Is there any way for a magus to create permanent magical effects in Fifth Edition?
• Is temporary, magically-created food nourishing?
• Can the damage from a Momentary Perdo effect be healed?
• Can a Momentary Perdo spell permanently remove a natural property of something, for example, make an object permanently weightless?
• How do General spells work?

Casting Spells

• Shouldn't there be a die roll for non-fatiguing spontaneous magic?
• What is the fast-casting speed roll (p. 83) for?
• Can a magus cast spells directly from a text?
• How does Multiple Casting work?
• How does one cast a General spell?

Questions on Specific Spells

• Is Incantation of Summoning the Dead really supposed to be a ritual?

Magic Resistance, Penetration, and Parma Magica

Most of the following questions are addressed in detail in the (lengthy) article on Magic Resistance.

Magic Resistance Mechanics

• Please explain in simple terms how Magic Resistance works.
• Does Magic Resistance protect against the Divine?
• Does Magic Resistance keep out helpful spells like healing spells?
• Does Magic Resistance protect against the claws or teeth of a magical creature?
• How would magic resistance affect a sword that's enhanced by a spell?
• Does magic resistance keep out enchanted devices?
• Since magic resistance keeps out magical things, doesn't it keep out illusions?
• What is the " Pink Dot Loophole?" Is there a way to close it?

Penetration Mechanics

• Do wards have to penetrate in order to keep out a creature with Magic Resistance?
• Does Aegis of the Hearth have to penetrate in order to keep out a creature with Magic Resistance?

Design of Magic Resistance

• Why doesn't Magic Resistance just dispel magical effects?
• Why can't non-Hermetic magicians (hedge wizards) have Magic Resistance similar to Parma Magica?

Laboratory

• Do lab helpers increase the amount of vis a magus can use in a season?
• Where are the rules for learning spells from a text?
• How are Verditius Runes supposed to work?

Books, Study, and Experience

• What is meant on p. 165 by " Summae: Source - Quality and Level?"

Combat

• Do Wound and Fatigue Penalty penalties apply to Soak totals?
• Do Wound Penalties apply to wound recovery rolls?
• Where are the rules for crossbows?
• The rules in Fifth Edition Covenants say it takes a very long time to reload a crossbow. Are those times realistic?
• Why would anyone want to use a crossbow, when longbows are so much better?
• Where can I find house rules for crossbows and/or longbows?
• How does one calculate Attack and Defense for missile weapons?
• What are the rules for movement in combat?
• Where are the rules for making an all-out attack or defense?
• Where are the rules for combat fatigue?
• What are the rules for charging?
• What happens to a character's Initiative Total if he changes weapons?
• How does Initiative work for spellcasting?
• Where can I find house rules for more combat options, variant weapon stats, and so on?

Miscellaneous Rules Questions

• How far is a pace?

Fourth Edition (and earlier editions) Questions

• How does the Parma Magica work in Fourth Edition?
• Is Perdo Imaginem too easy?
• "How do I use Range, Duration, and Target?"
• Can my wizard create ritual spell to lift an entire mountain five hundred feet into the air permanently? If so, what level would it be?
• Can a magus create a golem and switch minds with it and thus escape old age?
• Is ice part of Aquam, or what?
• "Is combat busted?"
• A sample combat

Legacy Page

The history of this page before July 21, 2012 is located at Legacy:FAQ