What do players do in Ars Magica?

[Tyrrell]

IIRC, about the only two Houses where at least nominal Christianity isn't the norm are Bjornaer (pagan shapechanging magi) and Merinita (faerie-magi). You might not be a highly religious Bonisagus, and your Quaesitor may put the lapsed in lapsed Catholic, but the intertwining of academic knowledge, societal religiousity, and the literal, provable, power of the Divine makes at least a lip-service deism de rigeur for most of the Order, IMO.

That's certainly how I play it. In fact, most of my Merinita are Christian as well. Just because someone initiates into the secrets of faerie magic doesn't mean that they're trying to become one or worship one. I think with sufficient Faerie lore, Paganism eventually starts to look unwise (in the setting).

Not that initiating the mystery of the becoming and changing oneself into an immortal faerie is a poor choice, but from the perspective of the character if they believe that they've got an eternal afterlife on the way, and that the world will come to an end eventually the choice isn't necessarily a wise one. (Also there is the possibility that the process doesn't grant immortality but instead destroys the caster and replaces them with a faerie that merely shares his or her memories and personality.)

[LibraryOgre]

That's certainly how I play it. In fact, most of my Merinita are Christian as well. Just because someone initiates into the secrets of faerie magic doesn't mean that they're trying to become one or worship one. I think with sufficient Faerie lore, Paganism eventually starts to look unwise (in the setting).

I tend to disagree, but that may be because I got into Ars Magica when I was heavily into real-world Paganism.

I think going Pagan in Ars Magica represents, for many magi (non-Major Characters likely stayed how they were raised) a more controllable path, and a degree of accepting the consequences of it. If I choose to ally with ancient deities, who are usually Magic or Fae-aligned, then I can strike a deal with them and, theoretically, get what I want, at a cost I can negotiate. This doesn't always work out, but the fact that the world of Ars Magica is explicitly not Manichean (i.e. While the Divine and Infernal explicitly exist, the fae and magic are also explicitly not either one... a third choice, as it were) means that it can seem a viable option for those who don't want to tow the line demanded by the Divine, but are unwilling to pay the price demanded by the Infernal.

The Mod Wonder: Feel free to argue with my black-text, but be careful; I had to watch myself to be sure I was keeping it Ars Magica relevant.

[JeenLeen]

In the game, does magic sometimes not function well in sanctified areas? I think I remember reading something about how places devoted to the divine (maybe infernal, too, maybe fairyland, too) can disrupt magic. If so, I can see an interesting area of conflict for Christian, Jew, or Muslim mages who find their magic not functioning in places related to their deity, and what the implications of that are.

But I might be thinking of another game.

[LibraryOgre]

In the game, does magic sometimes not function well in sanctified areas? I think I remember reading something about how places devoted to the divine (maybe infernal, too, maybe fairyland, too) can disrupt magic. If so, I can see an interesting area of conflict for Christian, Jew, or Muslim mages who find their magic not functioning in places related to their deity, and what the implications of that are.

But I might be thinking of another game.

Yes.

Basically, there's Divine, Infernal, Faerie, and Magic areas, rated 1-10 (higher is more powerful). Divine areas suppress all other powers to a degree... if you're in a church, Magic is harder, Fae powers are a lot harder, and Infernal powers are nearly impossible. Magic and Faerie areas boost each other a bit (1/2 the rating), while Infernal areas suppress everything not Infernal, though Magic least of all.

[Yuki Akuma]

Divine Auras (or the Dominion) tend to surround any village of more than a few dozen people, at least in areas where worshiping the Divine is normal. Usually not that strong in rural areas, but in towns and cities it can affect magic pretty severely.

And don't even think about trying to cast in the Vatican City, Jerusalem or Mecca.

This is why the Hermetic Order tends to build its Covenants out in the middle of nowhere. And generally restrict the people who live their to only worshiping outside the Covenant walls, in an attempt to prevent a Divine Aura interfering with the Magic Aura the mages are utilising. This can cause friction with the Church, of course.

[LibraryOgre]

Divine Auras (or the Dominion) tend to surround any village of more than a few dozen people, at least in areas where worshiping the Divine is normal. Usually not that strong in rural areas, but in towns and cities it can affect magic pretty severely.

And don't even think about trying to cast in the Vatican City, Jerusalem or Mecca.

This is why the Hermetic Order tends to build its Covenants out in the middle of nowhere. And generally restrict the people who live their to only worshiping outside the Covenant walls, in an attempt to prevent a Divine Aura interfering with the Magic Aura the mages are utilising. This can cause friction with the Church, of course.

This is definitely worth emphasizing... 4e has the following table:

Area/Divine Aura
Rural Christian Area 1
Town 2
City 3
Consecrated Ground 3-5
Small Church 5
Large Church 6
Cathedral 8
Site of Saint's Martyrdom 10

So, pretty much, if you're within the bounds of a reasonably devout count's demense, you're dealing with a level 1 Divine aura... a penalty to all magic rolls (but that level 1 Divine might be overpowered by another aura; if you're in a level 3 Magic aura, it overrides the small divine aura that might be around... but it's VERY easy to build a decent Divine aura. If you've got a chapel where someone gives communion on a regular basis, you're looking at a divine aura of 5, which will severely impact your magi, and absolutely trash any fae powers that might be there.

[JeenLeen]

So, pretty much, if you're within the bounds of a reasonably devout count's demense, you're dealing with a level 1 Divine aura... a penalty to all magic rolls (but that level 1 Divine might be overpowered by another aura; if you're in a level 3 Magic aura, it overrides the small divine aura that might be around... but it's VERY easy to build a decent Divine aura. If you've got a chapel where someone gives communion on a regular basis, you're looking at a divine aura of 5, which will severely impact your magi, and absolutely trash any fae powers that might be there.

Does the aura ever follow a person? For example, would someone receiving a sacrament like Communion have a harder time casting magic or be more resistant to magic for some time afterwards?

Although this system seems a bit crunchier than my current tastes, I might try a look at it with some of my group.

[LibraryOgre]

Does the aura ever follow a person? For example, would someone receiving a sacrament like Communion have a harder time casting magic or be more resistant to magic for some time afterwards?

Although this system seems a bit crunchier than my current tastes, I might try a look at it with some of my group.

I quickly looked through Realms of Power: The Divine, and don't see any sign that's the case. Those with the True Faith virtue (who are more or less proto-saints) get Magic Resistance from their Faith Points. Normal people can get a faith point from undergoing a sacrament, but those don't inherently interfere with magic.

[Yuki Akuma]

People with Magic Resistance, even from a realm other than the Magic realm, don't suffer any penalties to casting magic (although they have a harder time casting on themselves unless they can turn the Magic Resistance off).

So there are Hermetic Mages out there with True Faith, and they have no trouble casting magic outside of Divine Auras. Actually, some of them can cast it just fine inside Divine Auras due to various mysteries and pacts with angels and such...

[CE DM]

After probably hours of searching, I wasn't able to find any trace of information about what players are actually supposed to be doing in an Ars Magica campaign. Which includes the 4th edition rulebook. Some people seem to think that it's best to leave your main character at home to study and do the actual adventures with the secondaries, but what are they doing then?

adventures have been mentioned, but they aren't hard to guess at anyway.

I/we (& I think the game) had it such that (as mentioned before) each player has a magus and a companion type character, plus grogs. Let's say there are 4 players

on a given adventure"
players 1 & 2 play their magi, plus some grogs
players 3 & 4 play their companions, plus some grogs
the other characters do things like study, practice, build/craft & train

then swap on the next adventure

alternatively, one does a "split party" thing where "half" do part of the adventure in one locale, while the other half adventure in a different locale at the same time in game (but subsequently in real life). This isn't standard, as one generally wants to have characters "at home", for defense & administration at the least. A split like this could very well be defending vs attackers/going on a related mission, though.

[Faily]

I quickly looked through Realms of Power: The Divine, and don't see any sign that's the case. Those with the True Faith virtue (who are more or less proto-saints) get Magic Resistance from their Faith Points. Normal people can get a faith point from undergoing a sacrament, but those don't inherently interfere with magic.

IIRC, in 5th Edition, people who carry a Relic also gain some resistance to magic. I don't know what it was like in previous editions, since we played only one or two sessions of 4E before our group switched over to 5E (which is oh so good).

[CE DM]

In the game, does magic sometimes not function well in sanctified areas? I think I remember reading something about how places devoted to the divine (maybe infernal, too, maybe fairyland, too) can disrupt magic. If so, I can see an interesting area of conflict for Christian, Jew, or Muslim mages who find their magic not functioning in places related to their deity, and what the implications of that are.

But I might be thinking of another game.

It must vary somewhat by edition, but in the editions I have every realm has an effect on every other one. The divine is really harsh on the magi. There was a splatbook containing divine-magic sorta hybrids, but they were really rare/odd/far from standard. And indeed religious magi would have issues, and yeah, that was potentially interesting.

It sounds like this was changed, going from other's posts.

Ars Magica 3e was/is mine, and I had some 2e & 4e stuff that seemed more or less to be quite similar, along the lines of the differences between B/X D&D & BECMI D&D, or AD&D & AD&D 2e (maybe only as much as AD&D & AD&D "1.5e" or AD&D 2e & AD&D 2.5e/players option).

About what one would expect...magic/spellcasting is hindered by holy, unholy or scientific places, aided by magic or fey places.

EDIT: Let's see...there is a chart on pg 308 of the 3e ARs M. Magic/spells counts a magical aura as a straight up plus (kinda obvious), subtracts in a divine aura, infernal areas or rational/reason auras, and in faerie auras they add add 1/2 the fey rating.

[LibraryOgre]

Ars Magica 3e was/is mine, and I had some 2e & 4e stuff that seemed more or less to be quite similar, along the lines of the differences between B/X D&D & BECMI D&D, or AD&D & AD&D 2e (maybe only as much as AD&D & AD&D "1.5e" or AD&D 2e & AD&D 2.5e/players option).

IIRC, that's pretty much it. 4e was very much "3e without White Wolf's mandatory grimdark and World of Darkness previews." The 4e book has the Tremere purging some vampires from its ranks, and they entirely get rid of "True Reason" as a thing.

[RazorChain]

Does the aura ever follow a person? For example, would someone receiving a sacrament like Communion have a harder time casting magic or be more resistant to magic for some time afterwards?

Although this system seems a bit crunchier than my current tastes, I might try a look at it with some of my group.

Being Christian has some benefits for example your name is protected if you are baptised and can't be used as an arcane connection. But I don't recall that receiving sacrament gives any benefit.

[JeenLeen]

Is 5th edition free?
I recall I found one PDF free (and I think legally free, though I may have been mistaken). It'd be nice to look over the updated system and see if it'd appeal to my group.

[Knaight]

Is 5th edition free?
I recall I found one PDF free (and I think legally free, though I may have been mistaken). It'd be nice to look over the updated system and see if it'd appeal to my group.

No. 4th edition is free, and it's possible that 5e has had temporary periods where certain books were free, but at present it's very much not.

[LibraryOgre]

No. 4th edition is free, and it's possible that 5e has had temporary periods where certain books were free, but at present it's very much not.

4th edition is, in fact, unambiguously free... Atlas has it on their website.

[Jama7301]

No. 4th edition is free, and it's possible that 5e has had temporary periods where certain books were free, but at present it's very much not.

4th edition is, in fact, unambiguously free... Atlas has it on their website.

Awesome. I'm going to have to check that out after work.

Thanks for the heads up!

[Faily]

If you want to check out the game and setting to get a feel for it, the free 4E is a good place to start. :)

I do recommend 5E to those who find enjoyement with Ars Magica, as I personally find that they fixed a lot of problems with 4E very well (like wearing armor in combat and other things).

[Tyrrell]

I think going Pagan in Ars Magica represents, for many magi (non-Major Characters likely stayed how they were raised) a more controllable path, and a degree of accepting the consequences of it. If I choose to ally with ancient deities, who are usually Magic or Fae-aligned, then I can strike a deal with them and, theoretically, get what I want, at a cost I can negotiate.

Certainly this holds for the lifetime of a character in the setting. But I've not seen much support for faerie or magic aligned characters getting a different afterlife. Twilight is an example I suppose. For the most part fifth edition steered clear of explicit "here's how the afterlife is" pronouncements because there was no benefit to making them. Fifth ed. is explicit in saying that God created the universe and that the divine realm is supreme. While some individual characters may be as you say and rely on Faerie or magic to determine the fate of their eternal soul, I have a difficult time seeing many groups of people in the setting that would come to this conclusion based on their collection of worldview and evidence (the Baltic pagans, the Shamanistic mongols, some of the Criamon, and some of the vitki rune wizards spring to mind).

[LibraryOgre]

Certainly this holds for the lifetime of a character in the setting. But I've not seen much support for faerie or magic aligned characters getting a different afterlife. Twilight is an example I suppose. For the most part fifth edition steered clear of explicit "here's how the afterlife is" pronouncements because there was no benefit to making them. Fifth ed. is explicit in saying that God created the universe and that the divine realm is supreme. While some individual characters may be as you say and rely on Faerie or magic to determine the fate of their eternal soul, I have a difficult time seeing many groups of people in the setting that would come to this conclusion based on their collection of worldview and evidence (the Baltic pagans, the Shamanistic mongols, some of the Criamon, and some of the vitki rune wizards spring to mind).

Just because that's what I negotiate for doesn't mean that's what's literally going to happen... but I negotiated a price for it that I can stand.

[Duff]

Being a troupe-style game, the idea is that your magus will link up with someone else's consortes and have adventures designed around your themes.

I'd add a few tips.

It can work quite well to have grogs also belong to specific players. In the example given, Michael the Flambeau might have a shield grog regularly played by Wendy with Peter running most of those stories. (the Meranita may have a woodsman type grog who comes along, the Jerbiton may have a page, etc

It helps a lot if at least some of the GMs are good at playing their character in the background while running a story. Especially when the story is one of the "There's a demon ripping up the Covenant" type stories which are often a bit "All hands to the pumps".

It helps a lot if at least someone is happy to keep the records. How much vis does the covenant have? What is in the library?

[Tyrrell]

It helps a lot if at least someone is happy to keep the records. How much vis does the covenant have? What is in the library?

Records are a tremendous boon,

A list of what each of the magi has done every season solves headaches about "have I already absorbed the lessons of this book?", "can Bob upgrade his lab?", and "where did all of the money go?". Also it helps with the questions of what is the history between character A and character B?

A list of what vis has what form and where it came from changes a dreary game mechanical "five pawns of Herbam vis" into the evocative golden acorn from a cursed oak tree and rose petals that grew in a cave in the dark on a flower held in the hand of a gargoyle.

Tracking what your vis is closely related to what I think is the one of genius aspects of Ars Magica; the mechanics are descriptive. So much of the magic system and the advancement system incorporates all sorts of aspects of the characters.

It is, in this way, sort of the mirror image of Hero System. Hero works to provide a sort of balance and then tells the players to add the description, Ars Magica works to incorporate description in the mechanics and doesn't worry itself overly much about balance.