Ars Magica: The Art of Magic (Ars Magica Fantasy Roleplaying) (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: starting experience points, average covenant, raw vis, Ind Spell Focus, Ars Magica, Order of Hermes (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Come to a land of adventure and mystery, of falling empires and rising nations, of legendary creatures and incredible myths. This is Ars Magica's Mythic Europe, where the power of magic is real and exists alongside historical figures and locations.

Stories revolve around the covenant: one part mystical college, one part magical laboratory, one part Hermetic fortification, one part bastion of secrecy.

Your Role: Grog, Companion, Magus

You'll take many roles. At times, you may be a grog, a stalwart guard of the covenant, well-paid for your labors with a life far more exciting than that of the common folk. At other times, you may be a companion, a respected friend of the covenant, using your professional skills for a share of the glory and the reward. You'll also take on the role of a magus, a wizard of legendary power, a leader of the covenant, a member of one of the Houses of Hermes. With each role you play, however, you have knowledge few others possess. You know of Ars Magica, the art of magic.

A Magical Game

The first edition of Ars Magica set the benchmark for magic in fantasy roleplaying. It pioneered the storytelling style of roleplaying that has become so popular today. Its setting, Mythic Europe, sparked the imaginations of fantasy fans and history enthusiasts alike.

The fourth edition of Ars Magica's core rulebook introduces improved systems in several key areas such as combat, character advancement, and covenant generation. This version of the game retains and improves upon Ars Magica's powerful and flexible magic system -- widely regarded as the best rules for magic in all of gaming. Ars Magica Fourth Edition also remains compatible with the game's previously released supplements.

Ars Magica won the Gamer's Choice Award for Best Fantasy Roleplaying Game of 1988; the Fourth Edition was nominated for the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules of 1996.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Atlas Games; 4th edition (December 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887801553
• ISBN-13: 978-1887801553
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,752,440 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A simple and brillaint RPG, June 27, 2000

By	J. Angus Macdonald "bibliovore" (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My background is in Medieval History and the Arthurian legends. While I have enjoyed RPGs in general over the years, I have never really felt fulfilled by them. Ars Magica changed that.

This is a grand game, not only in terms of system, but also in scope. You are not slogging around odd underground defense installations finding monsters sitting in room with a king's ransom in gems; instead, you are part of a community and your interests are first in foremost in the esoteric study of arcane lore and magic. Assuming you are a mage. The Companion and Custos (Grogs) have a slightly different take on life, but they are lower down the Great Chain of Being.

This game assumes that in the Middle Ages the world was what people believed it was. Demons are real. God is above all else. Faeries are around every corner. Within this context, you, the player, are an anomaly -- a mage with great power, socially shunned (at best), but in the end subject to the world around you and the constraints placed on your magic.

The system is elegant, requiring only 10-sided dice. The magic system is magesterial -- huge, flexible, yet limiting the lesser magi until they have a chance to learn. Most of all, the game puts you within a real world and makes you feel enmeshed in it.

If you are looking for a truly fine RPG, this is it, hands down.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect magic system for the hard-core gamer., May 7, 1999

By A Customer

This allows character creation that so perfectly let's you dedicate your character on exactly the type of magic you would see them doing in your mind's eye. Rather, than like other RPGs, put you in a class and assign your spells based on your class, this system offers some couple of hundred spells that are SKILL chosen. So If you picture yourself as the 'air mage' you can study magic forms of air, how to control it, create it, destroy it, etc. YOU choose. There are 10 elements: Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Body, Mind, Animal, Herbal, Illusions, Vim. To each type you can Control, Mutate, Understand, Create and Destroy. So, if you want Invisibility, 'Destroy Illusions' would erase your image. To lift a rock, 'Control Earth' would give you that sort of telekinetic power. 'Control Body' could allow you to fly, etc.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps the best RPG ever written. Be sure to check it out!, June 17, 1999

By A Customer

With such a huge list of strengths to comment on, it's hard to figure out where to start. Excellent character generation, elegant combat system, simply the best magic system ever developed, and a boundless world to set your adventures in. Are there any drawbacks? None that I can think of!