Ars Magica

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Ars Magica
publication
Author (s) Jonathan Tweet , Mark Rein Hagen
Original publisher Atlas Games
Original publication 1987 -
World and system
genre Fantasy
Ascent XP purchase system
cube W10, W100

Ars Magica is a pen and paper role-playing game . The background to the game is “Europa Mythica”, a version of medieval Europe in which myths and legends are not superstitions but reality. As the name suggests, magicians and their secret arts are the central theme of the game. The magicians are organized in small groups, so-called leagues, whose structure can best be compared to that of a monastery. In contrast to most other role-playing game systems , each player leads a pool of characters who live in the union, starting with a magus, quasi the main role, through a companion (an important supporting role) to a few servants. Depending on the type of adventure, each player always has a suitable character at hand.

Publication history

Ars Magica was developed in 1987 by Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein Hagen and published by their own publishing house "Lion Rampant". The game won one of the coveted Gamer's Choice Awards due to the innovative magic system and the introduction of the so-called " troupe style play ", in which each player acts as the game master of one aspect of the game . The revised second edition of the game appeared as early as 1989, in which the background world “Europa Mythica” was presented in detail for the first time. In 1991 the publishing house was bought by White Wolf , who incorporated some ideas into their World of Darkness concept. But Ars Magica was also further developed and appeared in the third edition in 1992. Two years later, the game was sold to Wizards of the Coast , who in turn ceded it to today's publisher Atlas Games in 1996 . The fourth edition was published there in the same year. With the last 5th edition of 2004, the game finally said goodbye to the World of Darkness. The rule system was simplified and worked so well that in 2005 it won the Origins Award in the “Best Role Playing Game” category and the “ENnie Gold Award”. In order to attract more players, the publisher is making the fourth edition available in English free of charge.

Despite a relatively small fan base, the game has been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Hungarian, Polish and Japanese in various editions. The translation of the second edition of “Mania Productions” appeared on the German market in 1992 and the fourth edition in 1997 by Mario Truant Verlag . In addition to the basic rules, some source books have also been published there.

Web links