The Mysteries: Revised Edition Chapter Three: Storyguides & the Mysteries

This page is part of the The Mysteries Revised Edition Open Content

Storyguides & the Mysteries

What duties are involved in membership of a Mystery Cult? What stories do they inspire? This chapter is written primarily with storyguides in mind, but can be browsed by players, who may find much of interest within.

Responsibilities of Membership

On joining the cult and undergoing Initiation, the magus immediately takes on board certain obligations and duties. Each cult varies in its ideals, aims, and longterm ambitions: whereas The Children of Hermes require primarily the payment of vis dues and the Initiation of more members into the Mystery Cult, the NeoMercurian temple may require an arduous journey to the sands of Egypt and participation in a search for a lost shrine, or several seasons’ work mapping the magical energies of a stone circle in Loch Leglean. Whatever the Mystery Cult, the magus is expected to participate in furthering the aims of that cult by committing time and effort, which might usually be spent on his own researches. While it is impossible to generalize, participation in a Mystery Cult should generate stories; not just the stories required to earn Initiation, but also other stories driven by the agenda and the need to progress within the cult.

Some cults require annual dues. This is usually not specified in the cult description, and is a matter for storyguide discretion. A single pawn of vis a year is a reasonable symbolic requirement, being usedm to pay for cult rituals and fund work on enchanted devices that are then used for the benefit of the whole cult. In vis-rich sagas this amount should be significantly increased. A donation of perhaps seven or more pawns of vis seems appropriate for Initiation into a new degree. Some cults have almost no interest in vis; instead service is rendered in other ways.

Storyguides should balance the cost to the character against the slowing of character progression; these costs should be significant enough to have some effect, but not to make Initiation undesirable or replace the fact that the new Virtues are primarily paid for in stories, not magical or mundane wealth.

Time is another consideration: Commitment to a Mystery Cult will take some of the maga’s available time that she could otherwise choose to spend in the lab, and also act as a brake on her progression as compared to her non-Initiated sodales. The exact amount of time required by a Mystery can vary widely: If attendance at a festival or ceremony is necessary, the travel may be only a distraction from the season’s laboratory work, but at least occasionally the magus should be asked to spend a season extracting vis, writing a book, teaching a new Initiate, creating an enchanted device, or performing other duties that further the cause of the cult.

It is up to the storyguide to ensure that the price of commitment is felt, but not to render it so time-consuming that the Initiate gains no practical benefit from his membership. Such duties, if freely undertaken on a voluntary basis, should eventually be rewarded with a loan of a book on the mystery of the cult, or a season being taught by the Mystagogue, allowing progression in (Mystery Cult) Lore. Those who volunteer to spend time on cult business, especially in the tedium of lab work, gain respect and are offered Initiation faster than those who seek power and privilege but do not offer anything but the bare minimum in return. This does not however replace the need to participate in stories.

Overall, the vast majority of the character’s involvement with the Mystery Cult should be in the form of participating in actual stories, telling their adventures.

Mystery Stories

Such stories can have many themes. Along with the requirement to attend Initiations and to participate in testing probationers, many Mysteries have yearly festivals or ceremonies that require attendance — for example, the Neo-Mercurian celebration of Mercuralia — and storyguides should make the first attendance (at least) at each of these events the focus of a story so that a sense of atmosphere, people, and location is built. “Show, don’t tell” is good advice here; having the character participate in a rite, smell the incense, feel the strange magics, and hear the chanting makes the Mystery mysterious, and far more evocative. Mystery Cults should feel strange, distinct, and unlike other parts of the life of the magus; there should be a strong contrast between the warmth and familiarity of the covenant, and the strangeness and sense of awe in participating in the rites of the Mystery. When designing stories, the storyguide should think about how they lead the character deeper into the secrets of the Mystery Cult and how they reflect the ultimate aim of the school.

For example, the Philosophers of Rome ultimately aspire to godhood, yet their hedonistic orgies and libertine excesses may prevent that from being apparent until the interested party has spent much time in the cult, trying to reconcile the reckless pursuit of sensuality with the dry academic researches in early Christian texts that that group carries out. A story may be told in which, in the course of an investigation of a hidden catacomb, a number of books clearly written by a Gnostic philosopher are found; yet shortly thereafter there are inscriptions venerating the same man as a god. In a later story the same being is met in a hidden magical regio, yet by now the young Philosopher has found records showing that the mysterious author/deity was once a member of his own covenant, and indeed worked in the very same lab that today is used by that Initiate.

As each layer of the mystery is peeled away, new secrets present themselves, and new questions requiring answers are uncovered. The player’s and character’s growing knowledge of the cult naturally creates many story ideas as well. The troupe should craft the Mystery Cult outline into something unique, using it as a guideline and thinking of secrets and revelations that can be learned in the course of play. Each revelation should change the way that the cult is perceived, and be quite dramatic — and make the Initiate wish to know more. These stories should be linked to the outline of the cult provided in this book, but go beyond it, exploring and defining the role of the cult in the saga, and changing details or even whole sections to better fit what the troupe wishes to do with the cult. Initiation into a mystery is a minor story arc, yet in a well-plotted saga it can link back to the themes and motifs of the main saga arc in surprising ways.

Character Focus

It is, perhaps, normal in a saga for stories to focus on the covenant’s members working together to achieve some shared aim, resolve a conflict, or defeat some threat. Of course some stories focus on individual magi or companions, putting them in the spotlight — typically those that focus upon a Story or Personality Flaw — but even then the story often results in their fellows from the covenant joining the afflicted character, and seeking to find a solution together. At the very least they are usually aware of the problem their sodalis faces.

As the saga grows, House loyalties crop up, and parentes attempt to embroil filii in their own machinations. Magi develop long-term projects: creating greater invested devices or talismans, or finding and bonding familiars — quests that take them away from the other magi — but the saga adapts, and players find characters within the saga who join the errant magus, so that all the troupe members remain active. Characters acquire debts of favor: magi who have performed a vital service for a young magus (such as creating an enhanced Longevity Ritual) inevitably call in that favor later.

Introducing player characters into the Mystery Cults might seem to shift the balance away from the covenant and troupe play. Certain characters acquire new loyalties outside the covenant, and are oath-bound not to reveal the nature of that secret. Attempts to uncover their secret may be made, including formal challenges to certamen duels, yet still they refuse to divulge their activities. Suspicion can rapidly escalate to paranoia: This should not be pushed into causing a problem for the saga.

The involvement of the character in a Mystery Cult requires some stories that focus on the relationship between the Initiate and the cult, and the adventures arising from this. Some of those adventures — the search for a lost temple, or to slay a dragon, or to uncover a Hermetic criminal in clear breach of the Code — can easily involve all of the magi who wish to participate, the character undertaking the Quest inventing a cover story that explains the necessity to his sodales. Some stories, however, especially Initiation ones, require that magi to act alone — although even then he may have recruited a few loyal grogs and companions who are affiliated with the cult at the most basic level, for many cults prize even unGifted members if they know how to fight or possess useful skills.

While player knowledge is not character knowledge, some troupes will elect to conceal any knowledge of the Mystery Cult’s secrets from the players of non-Initiates.

Mystery Cults in the Ars Magica setting Although the existence of Mystery Cults is an official part of the setting of Ars Magica, the schools outlined in The Mysteries Revised Edition mostly exist as hidden traditions within the Order of Hermes. The Mystery Cults depicted in this book are primarily examples, and while they may be referred to in future Ars Magica supplements, storyguides should feel free to omit, alter, or change them as required. It is very unlikely that the entire set of Mystery Cults will be mentioned even fleetingly in a single saga. The apparent absence of others does not mean they do not exist; rather, by their very nature Mystery Cults are secretive and hidden from view. They can, therefore, be introduced into a story at any time as required, without upsetting the background of the saga — the organization was always present, but only now have the magi become aware of its existence. Storyguides are positively encouraged to change the details of the cults here to suit their own sagas. A Mystery Cult whose details are freely available to read, is, well, not very mysterious! Changing things prevents players who have read deeply in this book from becoming jaded, and allows the sense of awesome secrets and strange enigmas to pervade this part of the saga, as is proper. It also allows troupes free rein to use their own imaginations and creativity to great effect, making the saga an expression of the ideas and desires of the whole group.

Progression in a Mystery Cult

The need to spread attention between the players, and to ensure that an equal number of stories concentrate on each character, is the prime method of determining how quickly magi should progress in a Mystery Cult. In a fast saga, where years pass between stories, it should take a very long period for the magi to achieve a high degree in the Mystery Cult, and by the time they do they should be ready for the awesome power that can be attained. In a slow saga, it may never prove possible to progress far into a mystery, but the figure of three years per Initiation provides a reasonable rule of thumb, whereas in a medium saga seven years could pass between degrees of Initiation. Ultimately, though, progression is measured by stories not years, and the number of stories that is required to attain each Initiation 'is set by the storyguide and the Initiation Script design.

The number of characters in the game also limits progression; a game with only two players will see more rapid advancement than a game with six. As always, the troupe should set the pace to suit their own tastes. Many of the Mystery Virtues do, however, require extensive commitment to lab work and considerable levels of ability in Arts and Magic Theory, or other Abilities, which may also prove decisive in establishing the pace of Initiation.

How to Deal with Mystery Stories

Have the other players play cultinvolved companions and grogs. If you can involve these other characters in a Mystery Cult, it gives you opportunities to have an adventure with everyone playing a part. It is quite normal to play adventures with only one magus, although players must be careful to keep separate player knowledge and character knowledge.

Troupe play; beta storyguides. A Mystery Cult is a good opportunity for another player to do a bit of storyguiding. You can divide responsibilities and even story time, with one group running a Mystery Cult adventure, and another running a different adventure or performing laboratory activities.

Non-player Characters Taken On by players. As at Tribunal, you can create powerful story characters that are part of the Mystery Cult, and encourage side-lined players to play them. It heightens the tension of an Initiatory rite when the Initiate is suddenly facing four completely new characters wearing black masks and judging his actions, and its easier (and more fun) for four players to run four NPCs than for the storyguide to do it all.

Proactive Quests. When the characters go on an adventure, have them think about what their cult would want them to do. Perhaps they can apply their adventure experience retrospectively to Initiation Quests if they do things with significance to the cult; then seek Initiation and favor within the normal stories they engage in. Evangelize. Since cults want members, make Initiating others into the cult an important goal; perhaps even a common Initiatory Quest can be held. If the character can get some or all of the other characters to join, you can run Initiatory rites as a group activity, and all problems vanish; the covenant may become more cohesive than ever. This works particularly well when the covenant members found their own new cult.

Instructions. Cults that are close to their members might give characters instructions to follow while on adventures, in lieu of a solo Mystery Quest. This gives the Initiate a particular goal that the rest of the party might not know about. It should, however, never include killing another player character: such betrayal rarely makes for good gaming experiences.

Catch up later. You might tell the player of the Initiated character that the magus went on an adventure for his cult, but leave it aside to play at another time when there are fewer players present. The player gains the Virtues but has no memory of the event until he goes back to play it through.

Blue-booking. The Mystery stories are handled by exchange of e-mail, Internet chat, phone calls, letters, or stories between the storyguide and the player. It never takes up a session, but events happen, stories unfold, and the plot is advanced through a non-traditional roleplaying medium. The player keeps a book in which he records his character’s off-camera stories — but it doesn’t have to be blue.

Make it secret. Since the other characters aren’t supposed to know that the character is in a cult, or what goes on at the cult rites, arrange to game privately with the cult member’s player for those bits, and pretend that the character is doing something else in-game. While possibly the most elegant solution, it depends on your time available before the next session, and can result in problems if one story is taking a long time, leaving the other characters playing grogs facing mundane threats as they wait for the mystery character to return so the game as a whole can progress at the same narrative rate.

Abstract it. Since it is a seasonal activity, you can do cult Initiation like you do other kinds of study. Everyone announces what they’re doing that season, and then you address each character in turn, making the necessary rolls and moving on. Not as much flavor this way, but it gets the job done, although it defeats the purpose of Mystery Cults as a way of driving stories.

Player Knowledge

The next question facing the troupe is whether to allow everyone access to The Mysteries or to allow its secrets only to those within a specific Mystery Cult. Both approaches have their advantages.

In the first, players can and should buy a copy, so that they may make intelligent design choices when creating their characters, and the major mysteries can act as long-term goals to work toward. Perhaps one player loves the hedonistic scholars who comprise the Philosophers of Rome, and wishes to aim at apotheosis into the Hall of Heroes. Another is excited by the idea of playing a magical archaeologist uncovering lost secrets, and chooses to play a member of the NeoMercurians. In such a way all of the troupe participate in deciding which mysteries are involve in the saga, and they may also decide which of the Mystery Cults, if any, become enemies of the covenant, and purchase an appropriate hook at covenant creation.

This is the default option; it is hard to restrict player access to books, although some will cheerfully agree not to read certain parts if it could spoil their enjoyment of the game. Everyone at the every least should have access to Chapter 4: Curious Common Magics, which outlines new Virtues and Flaws that, while rooted in the Mystery Cults, are now fairly common across the Order of Hermes. In a troupe-style game, or if you enjoy allowing players to seek the best potential for their characters through informed design, allowing access to this book is probably the best way; however you will need to make small changes to the Mystery Cult outlines, to ensure they remain mysterious.

With the second option, the storyguide restricts knowledge to those who are involved in a particular Mystery, perhaps allowing only a small part of the Mystery at a time to be revealed and the ultimate aim of the cult to be hidden from low-degree members. In fact, such members may even be fed false myths and untrue information, with the truth being only slowly revealed. If you play with a single storyguide and he alone tends to buy Ars Magica books, then this may be a fun option, but it can be used even if everyone in the troupe has read this book; simply declare chapters 5 through 14 off-limits, and make changes to frustrate players who succumb to the temptation to peek.

Mystery Cults as Antagonists

Those relatively new to Ars Magica games may already be reeling from the wealth of options available to their characters, and may not be ready to embark on the process of Initiation into the Esoteric Mysteries. Most cults prefer to recruit from relatively mature magi, maybe ten to 30 years out of Gauntlet, and some, like the Legion of Mithras, require an exemplary record of service to the Order, or some equivalent degree of proof of worthiness, before they consider a character a potential probationer. (There are, however, also other societies, such as the Children of Hermes and the Volshebnii Mechtateli, who prefer to recruit from the younger magi of the Order.) It is usually wise to allow a player time to familiarize herself with the rules, setting, and Order of Hermes background before encouraging her to design characters who seek Initiation into the Mystery Cults, where the rules and options become even more complex.

Troupes that are not yet ready to embark on Initiation into the Mysteries should however consider another option: Mystery Cults as antagonists. Mystery Cults make superb villains, and unmasking the threat of a Mystery Cult that has designs inimical to the Order as a whole, and the player characters’ covenant in particular, can make for a memorable longterm saga arc. Cultists are secretive, have hidden bases to uncover and loot, have plans to disrupt, and have mysterious powers that must be learned and thwarted.

Mysterious Knowledge A wise old magus known to the magi confides in them a secret. A maga named Flora, who has been brought before the Tribunal on a high crime, is almost certain to be found guilty and Marched tomorrow, so strong is the evidence against her. Yet, through the secret art of Divination, taught in a manner he cannot reveal as part of his Initiation into an ancient Mystery, he has learned that she is beyond all doubt innocent. Because he cannot confess his affiliation with the cult that taught him, and his nonstandard powers will not be counted as evidence, he can do nothing. However divination has provided him with a few seemingly contradictory clues as to the real culprit, who it seems has faked Flora’s casting sigil and used high-level spells to block the Intellego magics of the Quaesitors. Can the player magi find enough evidence before dawn to prevent a miscarriage of justice and bring the real offender to light?

Attribution

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.