Ars Magica Definitive Edition, Chapter Zero: Credits

Step into a Medieval World of Magic & Myth

In Ars Magica, the superstitions of the common folk are all true. Faeries drink milk left on doorsteps, demons roam the countryside, and wizards wield magic beyond the ken of mortals.

Step into this magical medieval world as a powerful magus of the Order of Hermes, as their talented companion, or as a loyal grog who protects them.

The Definitive Edition of the award-winning Ars Magica RPG is the ultimate roleplaying experience. It's a heavily expanded version of the Fifth Edition core rulebook.

Credits

Ars Magica Creators: Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein•Hagen

Definitive Edition Credits

Producers: Michelle Nephew & Ben Hartfield

Revision & Project Management: David Chart

Graphic Design & Layout: Ben Hartfield

Artists: Christian Bravery, John Cobb, Liz Danforth, Thomas Denmark, Jaume Fabregat, Eric Hotz, Tom Kyffin, Jackie Sue Lozano, Steve Luke, Jeff Menges, Eneko Menica, Emilia Nephew, Josephine Nephew, J. Scott Reeves, Pam Shanteau, Doug Shuler, Mark "Jock" Simpson, Christian St. Pierre, Dominic Reardon, Adam Rex, Grey Thornberry, Bryon Wackwitz, Mike Weaver, Katherine Wyman, and many talented but unattributed medieval artists.

Cross-Chapter Story: Michelle Nephew

Design Contributions: Tom Dowd, Jörg-Peter Friederich, Rich Gentile, Andrew Gronosky, Andrew Mitchell, Mark Shirley, Andrew Smith, Kevin Sours, David Woods

Errata Documentation: Christopher Allen and the online Ars Magica community

Indexing: Ross Waataja

Proofreading: Woody Eblom, Jenae Floerke, Jackie Sue Lozano, John Nephew, Ross Waataja

ArM5 Proofreading: Sheila Thomas

ArM5 Vital Technical Support: Matthew Seidl

Publishers: John & Michelle Nephew

Fifth Edition Line Authors

The following people all contributed to books in the Ars Magica Fifth Edition line, and some of their work has found its way into this definitive edition. Ars Magica would not be what it is without them.

Christian Rosenkjaer Andersen, Jason Brennan, Volker Bürkel, Evangeline Cheng, Niall Christie, Camo Coffey, Erik Dahl, Mark Faulkner, Timothy Ferguson, Tim Goldbeck, Andrew Gronosky, Lachlan Hayes, Daniel Kemler, Jeff Kyer, Mark Lawford, Richard Love, David MacGregor, Ben McFarland, Phil Masters, Pitt Murmann, John Post, Xavier Requejo, Saul Roberts, Christian Jensen Romer, Matt Ryan, Christoph Safferling, Mark Shirley, Nick Simmonds, Andrew Smith, Neil Taylor, Paul Tevis, Sheila Thomas, Erik Tyrrell, Alexander White, David Woods

Fifth Edition Playtesters

First Round: John Bull, Lloyd Graney, Pete Hiley, Christian Jensen-Romer, Kevin Sides, David Woods, Eric Grove-Stephensen, Dean Scothern, Richard Slattery, Eric Kouris, Yves Leblanc, Stéphane Paquet, Hubert Quatreville, Chris Blake, Joel Coldren, Mike Daumen, Mike Graves, Ann Harper, Jason Morningstar, Patrick M. Murphy, Steve Segedy, Tom Zito; Matt Ryan, Jessica Ryan, Roland Ryan, Sarah Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Jesse Koennecke, Asif Chaudhry, Robert Ahrens; Ian Radford, Mary Woodcock-Kroble, Derek Middlemiss, James Girdwood, Jerry Braverman, Kim Braverman, Erik Dahl, Mike Charlesworth, David Chart, Phil Masters, Neil Taylor, Sheila Thomas, Pete Windsor, Mathias Betge, Jörg-Peter Friederich, Joachim Kroenke, Olaf Mahl, Ulrich Willmünder, Greg Gibbs, Donna Giltrap, Malcolm Harbrow, Aaron Hicks, Richard Love, Dawn Hansen, Michael Hansen, David Henderson, Laura Henderson, Grier Johnson, Mark Pascual, Katharine Sauceda, Laura Saunders, Steve Saunders

Second Round: Niall Christie: Jerry Braverman, Kim Braverman, Erik Dahl, Thomas L. Scott; Eric Grove-Stephensen, Dean Scothern, Richard Slattery, Timothy Ferguson, Breyt Coakley, Eugene Dashevsky, Rich Gentile, Andrew Gronosky, Mike Longfritz, Andrew Mitchell, Vesna Gronosky, Arwen Warlock, Greg Gibbs, Donna Giltrap, Malcolm Harbrow, Aaron Hicks, Richard Love, Angus MacDonald, Kevin Sours, Luke Miller, Sean Winslow, Stephanie Sours, Michael Bors, Brock Close, Gary N. Mengle, Sean Mitchell; Matt Ryan, Jesse Koennecke, Roland Ryan, Robert Ahrens, Sarah Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Matthew L. Seidl; Camo Coffey, Roddy Hale, Mark Shirley, Andrew Smith, Andrew Walton; Mike Charlesworth, David Chart, Phil Masters, Neil Taylor, Sheila Thomas, Pete Windsor, Mathias Betge, Andrea C. Cofalik, Jörg-Peter Friederich, Joachim Kroenke, Olaf Mahl, Anette Springorum, Ulrich Willmünder; Jack Fairchild, Matthew Law, Paul "Polly" Stephenson, Alexander White, Erik Hendrickson, Scott Kieffer, Brian Malcolm, Jeffrey Miller, David Woods, Peter Clark, Lloyd Graney, Luke Price, CJ Romer, Kevin Sides, Ed Woods, Frédéric Clap, Eric Kouris, Yves Leblanc, Stéphane Paquet, Hubert Quatreville, Dale Beach, Joel Coldren, Mike Graves, Jason Morningstar, Scott Morningstar, Patrick M. Murphy, Steve Segedy, Enno Siemsen, Tom Zito

Third Round: Lloyd Graney, Pete Hiley, Chris Jensen-Romer, Paul Jenchowski, Luke Price, Kevin Sides, Ed Woods; Timothy Ferguson, Breyt Coakley, Eugene Dashevsky, Rich Gentile, Andrew Gronosky, Vesna Gronosky, Mike Longfritz, Andrew Mitchell, Arwen Warlock; Greg Gibbs, Donna Giltrap, Malcolm Harbrow, Aaron Hicks, Richard Love; Frédéric Clap, Eric Kouris, Yves Leblanc, Stéphane Paquet, Hubert Quatreville; Michael Bors, Richard Alan Brentar, John Burrell, Richard Burrell, Skip Engle, Joe Freistuhler, Gary N. Mengle, Sean Mitchell, Curtis Mustain, Michael Simone; Alexander Bader, Tanja Bader, Nina Baur, Stefan Ehret, Alexander Gerber, Jochen Gutjahr, MaPhi Messner, Jens Oesterle, Mirjam Rösen-Oesterle; Matt Ryan, Roland Ryan, Robert Ahrens, Jesse Koennecke, Sarah Ferguson-Wagstaffe; Matthew L. Seidl; Camo Coffey, Roddy Hale, Mark Shirley, Andrew Smith, Andrew Walton, David Woods; Mike Charlesworth, David Chart, Phil Masters, Neil Taylor, Sheila Thomas, Pete Windsor; Sean Winslow; Dan Baseman, Robert Jankovich, Jeff Schmidt, Erik Tyrrell; Dawn Hansen, Michael Hansen, David Henderson, Laura Henderson, Grier Johnson, Mark Pascual, Katharine Sauceda, Laura Saunders, Steve Saunders

Fourth Round: Niall Christie: Chris Jensen-Romer, Peter Hiley, Paul Jenchowski, Luke Price, Lloyd Graney, Kevin Sides, Ed Woods, Jerry Braverman, Kim Braverman, Erik Dahl, Thomas L. Scott, Eugene Dashevsky, Rich Gentile, Andrew Gronosky, Vesna Gronosky, Andrew Mitchell; Michael Bors, Richard Alan Brentar, Richard Burrell, Skip Engle, Joe Freistuhler, Gary N. Mengle, Sean Mitchell, Michael Simone, Alexander Bader, Tanja Bader, Nina Baur, Stefan Ehret, Alexander Gerber, Jochen Gutjahr, MaPhi Messner, Jens Oesterle, Mirjam Rösen-Oesterle, Robert Ahrens, Sarah Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Daniel Ilut, Jesse Koennecke, Matt Ryan, Roland Ryan, Miriam Wallace, Camo Coffey, Roddy Hale, Mark Shirley, Andrew Smith, Andrew Walton, Mike Charlesworth, Phil Masters, Gary Parden, Neil Taylor, Sheila Thomas, Pete Windsor, Mathias Betge, Andrea C. Cofalik, Jörg-Peter Friederich, Joachim Kroenke, Olaf Mahl, Anette Springorum, Ulrich Willmünder, David Woods, Dawn Hansen, Michael Hansen, David Henderson, Laura Henderson, Grier Johnson, Mark Pascual, Katharine Sauceda, Laura Saunders, Steve Saunders

Fifth Round: Niall Christie, Chris Jensen-Romer, Peter Hiley, Kevin Sides, Luke Price, Lloyd Graney, Paul Jenchowski, Polly Draper, Samuel Bidal, Anne-Gaëlle Darmont, Jérôme Darmont, Gilles Marcvincent, Miguel Peca, Didier Rabour, Quetta Garrison, Wendell Joyner, Angus MacDonald, Sarah MacDonald, Dan Shull, Brian Watson, Kaynek Young, Alexander Bader, Tanja Bader, Nina Baur, Stefan Ehret, Alexander Gerber, Jochen Gutjahr, MaPhi Messner, Jens Oesterle, Mirjam Rösen-Oesterle; Camo Coffey, Roddy Hale, Mark Shirley, Andrew Smith, Andrew Walton, Mike Charlesworth, Phil Masters, Gary Parden, Neil Taylor, Sheila Thomas, Pete Windsor, Andrea C. Cofalik, Ulrich Willmünder, Tod Gelle, Roberta Olson, Jeff Schmidt, Erik Tyrrell, Andrew Gronosky, Vesna Gronosky, Andrew Mitchell, Trond Løkke, John Henry Nordlien, Petter Stolba, Jon Sederqvist Østmoe, Tom Fraser, Philip Gardner, Ben Wright, Keith Dalzell, Sarah Doss, Paul Eastlund, Roy Pollock, Paul Tevis: Charlton Wilbur, Jason Burkins, Margaret Halpert, Chris Aylott, Fr. Tom Dowd

... and thanks to all the people who playtested later supplements and contributed errata over the years since the rules were originally published. All of you helped to make this book what it is.

Special Thanks

Special thanks to our crowdfunding backers, who made this project possible! And especially our Make Your Character Magical backers whose depictions are featured in the Bestiary chapter illustration: Tiphaine & Olivier Gourinchas' Titoo-Marie of House Bjornaer, James Astacio's Cerritulus of House Ex Miscellanea, Marsha & Martin Woodbury's Marosa of House Ex Miscellanea, and Chris Lankford's Elianus of House Jerbiton.

Special thanks to Doug Shuler, whose chapter illustrations are an incredible labor of love.

Special thanks to Ars Magica's founders: Woody Eblom, Nicole Lindroos, John Nephew, Mark Rein•Hagen, Lisa Stevens, Jonathan Tweet.

And special thanks to Peter Adkison for entrusting Ars Magica to Atlas Games so long ago!

Copyright & Trademark Notice

©2025 Trident, Inc., d/b/a Atlas Games®. All rights reserved. Ars Magica and Mythic Europe are trademarks and Atlas Games is a registered trademark of Trident, Inc. Order of Hermes, Tremere, Doissetep, and Grimgroth are trademarks of Paradox Interactive AB and are used with permission. This work is protected by international copyright law and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publisher.

1st Printing, 2025. Atlas Games, 202 3rd Ave, Proctor MN 55810, USA.

Ars Magica players participate in a vibrant fan community on discussion forums hosted by Atlas Games and Discord, by compiling archives of game material via Project Redcap at redcap.org, and by publishing their own work under the Ars Magica Open License at patreon.com and drivethrurpg.com. To learn more, visit us at ...

ATLAS-GAMES.COM/ARSMAGICA

ISBN: 978-1-58978-251-8

Made of FSC®-certified paper that was responsibly sourced.

Memorials

Spanning nearly 40 years, Ars Magica is an intergenerational game that has sparked long-lasting communities across the globe. Our crowdfunding campaign comments were filled with memories of loved ones gone to Final Twilight, for whom Ars Magica was a significant part of their lives. Here we pay tribute to the memory of those Ars Magica players we've lost. Vale sodales.

FATHER JOHN ALEXIS
IVAN BALABUCK
RHIANNON BATES
CHRIS BOMMERSHEIM
HAL BOWMAN
OTIS DANIEL BROPHY
JOHN FRANCIS BULL
KITTY "ISIS REGULON" CARLISLE
FRANCESCO CHERSTICH
LUDOVICO CONTI
JERRY CORRICK
AETHEL DE DIEDNE
ØYVIND ELIASSEN
TIM ELLIOT
CHRISTOPHER EVANS
CONNOR FRASER
MIGUEL ÁNGEL GARCÍA
PATRICE GERMAIN
YOSSI GURVITZ
SERENITY HALL
AARON HARMON
DONNA HECK
SHAWN HICKEY
DR. KATH HODGES
ANDREW JONES
ROBERT MAJOR
ERIK/DANIEL MARKSTEDT
FREDRICK OTTO MOEHRLE
EDUARD MONTER
ALBERTO PAGNOTTI
TONY POINTON
NICK POST
WADE RACINE
PAUL ROCCI
RUSSELL "WOMBLE" SAKNE
JAMES SANHEIM
RUSSELL MORRIS SCHOOLS, JR.
LO SMILODONTE
ROLAND SPEITH
JEROEN STOKMAN
JULIUS STONIS
DAVID H. TERNES
MARGO TOTH
KITE UNION
GIULIANO VERTUAN
BEN LUCIUS WALSH
STEWART WIECK
KARA WENDT
RICHARD B. WHITE

Preface

There's so much to love about Ars Magica, and it's gratifying to see it find an enduring place in the hearts of so many gamers. Mark Rein•Hagen and I put everything we had into this game, and it shows.

I love the core promise of the Ars Magica — wizards done right. In real-world lore, wizards are beyond the limits of regular mortals, while in RPGs they are typically on par with warriors and thieves — just one more class. I love how various elements of the game, such as houses and covenants, support this central promise.

I love how each covenant is a character in its own right, with its own origin and destiny. I love how they support long-term play and how creating a covenant sets a tone for what the campaign is going to do. I love how covenants have more-powerful magi as NPCs, reinforcing the idea that only thing more powerful than a magus is another magus. I love how they give magi the towers, libraries, laboratories, and more that genuine wizards are supposed to have.

I love the houses and how they help ground a magus both in an ancient tradition and in the politics of the day. I love how the various houses provide players and Storyguides with plenty of narrative leverage, both for conflicts and for connections. Ars Magica's houses were inspired by the cults of RuneQuest, and in turn they inspired the various factions that become popular in '90s-era RPGs. Taking sides seems to appeal to something deep in our nature.

I love spontaneous magic. Without the ability to do little things, like light a campfire with the snap of a finger, can you be a genuine wizard?

I love the verb-object system for magic arts. I love how 15 magical arts overlap to make 50 verb-object pairs. I love the sound of "creo ignem."

I love how the game uses Latin. I'm a word-root geek.

I love the grogs, how they play up the power of the magi, help the companions shine, and make character death more palatable.

I love the companions and how readily a player can build the companion that they want. I love how they operate in a middle position between the arcane magi and the mundane population at large.

I love the core dice mechanic. It's so straightforward that I later repurposed it as the core mechanic for D&D 3rd Edition.

I love the 1-3-6-10 scaling system for buying skills and arts.

I love how in 2nd edition we redefined the setting as Europe in the Middle Ages. As Ken Hite says, one sure way to improve your RPG campaign is to set it on Earth.

I even love the title. "Ars Magica" is an unfortunate title for a game that no one's ever heard of before, self-published by two nobodies. But a classic game, one that has stood the test of time and has earned its recognition — for that game it's a perfect title.

And I love that you now have this amazing edition in your hands. Enjoy!

Jonathan Tweet Ars Magica Co-Creator December 2024

Table of Illustrations


Dave Allsop	538
John Cobb	210, 415
Christian Bravery	52
Liz Danforth	31, 33, 115, 265
Thomas Denmark	153-154, 200, 222
Jaume Fabregat	445, 446, 447, 448, 449, 457, 458, 463, 466, 473, 474, 480, 491
ENEKO MENICA	493-494
EMILIA NEPHEW	427, 429, 431, 433, 434, 435, 446, 457, 461, 464, 465, 467, 468, 469, 470, 471, 472, 485, 486, 487, 492
JOSEPHINE NEPHEW	92, 443, 452, 453, 455, 456
DOMINIC REARDON	106, 237, 278, 410
J. SCOTT REEVES	79, 436, 491
ADAM REX	89, 246
JOHN SCOTELLO	114, 231, 517
PAM SHANTEAU	234
DOUG SHULER	1-2, 4, 26, 39, 59-60, 155-156, 201-202, 247-248, 299-300, 312, 373-374, 380, 423-424, 513
MARK "JOCK" SIMPSON	286, 321, 330, 529
CHRISTIAN St. PIERRE	174, 204, 289, 302, 313, 328, 350, 358, 364, 396, 417, 516
GREY THORNBERRY	5, 10, 22, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 58, 88, 97, 108, 112, 127, 129, 133, 142, 144, 149, 160, 177, 216, 229, 250, 261, 269, 338, 347, 348, 351, 362, 377, 403, 419, 489, 498, 507, 522, 525
BRYON WACKWITZ	62
MICHAEL WEAVER	158, 170, 180, 187
KATHERINE WYMAN	430, 432, 459
UNSIGNED	70, 295, 306, 329, 336, 340, 356

Public Domain Artworks


ALBERTINA COLLECTIONS ONLINE	74, 196, 224, 334, 499
Belles Heures, The Limbourg Brothers	9, 104, 203, 249, 281, 301, 327, 375
BOOK OF HOURS, SIMON BENING	182, 495
CLOISTERS APOCALYPSE	55, 56, 76, 121, 125, 157, 163, 173, 218, 220, 273, 292, 393, 475, 515, 523, 535
Dante's Commedia	535
DER NATUREN BLOEME, JACOB VAN MAERLANT	553, 555, 558, 559, 560, 561, 562, 563, 564, 565, 566, 567, 568
Dover Celtic Design Archive	34, 65, 66, 171, 173, 176, 184, 191, 208, 241, 257, 276, 345, 359, 389, 397, 441, 451, 484, 495, 511, 514
Jean Fouquet	409
MASTER OF CATHERINE OF CLEVES, LIEVEN VAN LATHEM	426
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART OPEN ACCESS	501
More Beasts	256, 556, 557
New York Public Library Digital Collections	3, 25, 61, 534
THE UNICORN TAPESTRIES	425, 526, 568
Wikimedia Commons	96, 119, 252, 308, 392, 463, 505
Various Sources	135, 159, 186, 257, 298, 316, 324, 361, 398

Credits
Memorials
Preface
Table of Illustrations
Table of Illustrations
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: The Order of Hermes
Chapter 3: Characters
Chapter 4: Virtues and Flaws
Chapter 5: Abilities
Chapter 6: Covenants
Chapter 7: Hermetic Magic
Chapter 8: Laboratory
Chapter 9: Spells
Chapter 10: Long-Term Events
Chapter 11: Obstacles
Chapter 12: Realms
Chapter 13: Bestiary
Map of Mythic Europe
Chapter 14: Mythic Europe
Chapter 15: Stories
Chapter 16: Sagas
Appendix A: Editor's Note
Appendix B: Ars Magica Open License
Appendix C: Fourth Edition Conversion
Appendix D: Reference Guide
Appendix E: Spells Index
Appendix G: Traditional Index
Appendix H: Character Sheet
Appendix I: Fifth Edition Line

Attribution Based on the material for Ars Magica, ©1993-2024, licensed by Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games®, under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license 4.0 ("CC-BY-SA 4.0"). Ars Magica Open License Logo ©2024 Trident, Inc. The Ars Magica Open License Logo, Ars Magica, and Mythic Europe are trademarks of Trident, Inc., and are used with permission. Order of Hermes, Tremere, Doissetep, and Grimgroth are trademarks of Paradox Interactive AB and are used with permission.

Open License Markdown version by YR7 & OriginalMadman, https://github.com/OriginalMadman/Ars-Magica-Open-License