Ars Magica 5th Edition

Ars Magica ("The Art of Magic") is the award-winning roleplaying game by Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein-Hagen that focuses on wizards who are as powerful as those we know from legend and literature; in the land of Mythic Europe, those legends are real. The rules encourage players to develop their characters over long periods of time, and make the covenant -- the home base of the characters -- central to the stories. Troupe-style roleplaying allows players to take on the roles of multiple characters, so that the players have equal access to power even though the characters do not.

This new edition is rewritten to improve the rules for existing players, and to be more attractive and accessible to new audiences. It features all-new graphic design, two-color interior printing, hardcover binding, and a special introductory price.

$35.00

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The Broken Covenant of Calebais

Fifty years ago, the covenant of Calebais was destroyed.

No one knows how or why such a powerful and well-defended group of wizards could possibly fall. The truth behind the tragedy only comes to light when you and your friends uncover this mystery. From faerie-inhabited forests to the long-abandoned ruins of a wizardly palace to the inner chambers of a secretive convent, The Broken Covenant of Calebais goes to the roots of roleplaying -- to the early days of fantasy stories -- when realism, romance, mystery, and magic were foremost in mind.

This revised edition of The Broken Covenant of Calebais is the third version of the adventure to be published for Ars Magica. Calebais was the first adventure published for the First Edition of the game, and was reworked for Second Edition. Now, to coincide with the release of the game's Fifth Edition, this classic has been revised and expanded once more. Although the plot, setting, and atmosphere remain the same, the text has been almost completely rewritten to integrate this classic adventure into the newest and best version of Ars Magica.

$19.95

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Houses of Hermes: True Lineages A Player's Sourcebook

The True Lineages are the backbone of the Order of Hermes. In these four Hermetic Houses, each magus was taught by a magus of the House, and that master-apprentice relationship goes back to the founders. This sourcebook details the four True Lineages, including rules for original research, unique forms of magic, and new Virtues and Flaws.

House Bonisagus descends from the two magi who created the Order, and continues to supply knowledge and leadership. They explore the theoretical applications of magic, delving deeper into its arcane secrets. And they advocate peace and cooperation among the Houses, searching for other wizards who might contribute to the community of magi.

House Guernicus upholds and enforces the Code of Hermes as the official judges and investigators of the Order. Its Quaesitores believe they stand against the wheel of fate, slowing it as best they can. By the efforts of its magi, the basic structures of Hermetic society have remained intact for over four hundred years.

House Mercere holds the magi of Mythic Europe together by facilitating communication, encouraging trade, and aiding their sodales. Its heralds, heroes, mercenaries, and merchants reflect the contractictions of their House: it is exotic, but traditional; loyal, but self-centered; proud, but humble.

House Tremere provides the strength of the Order. It controls events and prepares for coming battles, gathering influence and resources to respond to crises as they draw near. Tremere are pragmatic, dutiful, and courageous magi who know that Mythic Europe is a chaotic and dangerous place.

These are the True Lineages. Without them all, the Order of Hermes would surely fall.

Format: 144 pages, 8.5" x 11", case bound

$29.95

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Guardians of the Forests: The Rhine Tribunal

Guardians of the Forests details the birthplace of the Order of Hermes, Mythic Germany. From the sinister faerie heights of the Black Forest, home to Durenmar, through the prosperous and venerable cities of the Rhineland, to the fog-ridden Harz Mountains, to the lowland plain and Crintera's island retreat on the Baltic coast, the northern Holy Roman Empire is a diverse landscape of countless magical and faerie forests, interspersed with a patchwork of powerful realms, where prince-bishops vie with dukes and merchant gilds for temporal power. This is the land of the epic Nibelungenlied, the heroic conquests of Charlemagne and Frederick Barbarossa, the miracles of St. Boniface, the splendour of the Imperial Cathedrals, the gifts of minstrels and wood-wives, and the curses of witches and the Wild Hunt.

Guardians of the Forests reveals the many unique traditions of the First Tribunal, its archaic politics and lost glories, its reverence for its founders and its woodlands, the workings of the Great Library of Durenmar, and the secrets of those who pursue obscure wilderness paths in search of the primal power of the Forest. The richness of the German landscape is fully explored, replete with numerous story and saga ideas. The region of the Rhine Gorge receives a special focus -- its lost covenants, vis sources, sites of legend, towns, castles, inhabitants, and a mysterious curse are all detailed -- providing a perfect location to jump-start an Ars Magica 5th Edition saga.

Format: 144 pages, 8.5" x 11", case bound

$29.95

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Realms of Power: The Divine

God is the patron of the Jewish people, his chosen people, guiding them through history and ultimately back to the Promised Land.

God is three and one, incarnate in Christ His Son, and offers salvation to all equally.

God is pure unity, with no parents or children, saving all who submit to His Will.

God is beyond human understanding, and all the above statements are true.

But the Divine Realm is not completely beyond human comprehension, and this book explains the power of God in Mythic Europe. From descriptions of each of the three great Divine religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, to rules for Divinely-empowered wonder workers and angels, this book contains everything needed to include the Divine in your Ars Magica saga.

Format: 144 pages, 8.5" x 11", case bound

$29.95

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Realms of Power - The Infernal

Demons work to corrupt all the people of Mythic Europe. They take on attractive forms, but ultimately they seek to drag all of humanity down into damnation with them. No matter the nation, the creed, or the race, they are the true enemy.

The thirteen chapters of this book cover all of the manifestations of the forces of the Evil One. The purest appearances are the infernal auras, regiones, and vis, all of which taint those who merely come into contact with them.

Almost as pure are the demons of hell. The central section discusses the nine Orders of demons, providing rules for creating your own demons, as well as examples of demons from every Order and with different motivations. Some demons seek to corrupt, others to deceive, and still others simply to destroy.

Finally, there are rules for human characters caught up in Hell's plots. Whether demons have shaped their lives since before birth, or they have foolishly bargained for infernal powers, these chapters show how to use them as foes in your saga.

Be ready to fight, with sword, spell, and faith.

144 pages

$29.95

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Realms of Power: Magic

An Ars Magica Sourcebook

Of the four realms of power in Mythic Europe, Magic is at once the most familiar and the most alien. It's the source of power wielded by Hermetic magi, but it cares nothing for human concerns. Elementals are the essence of the elements given form; what are emotions to them? Dragons are ancient beyond belief; why should they concern themselves with the affairs of men? Spirits are bound to the phenomena of the natural world, not to the creations of humanity. And even those humans transformed by Magic have their own strange ambitions, divorced from the petty desires of mortals.

But despite this indifference, creatures and places of Magic are inexorably drawn into the lives of magi, as the members of the Order of Hermes hunt for vis, familiars, covenant sites, and the mysteries of the Magic Realm.

This book shows how to create creatures of Magic of all kinds, as player characters or antagonists. Extensive examples are included, from the Beasts of Virtue that exemplify animals to the spirits of emotions, from great fire-breathing dragons to tiny fire-breathing mice, and from elementals born of matter untouched by human hands to the walking corpses of the unquiet dead. Delve into these pages to uncover the secrets of vis, magic auras, and even the Realm of Magic itself!

$29.95

Covenants

An Ars Magica Player's Sourcebook

The covenant is the home of magi and the heart of an Ars Magica saga. Much more than just a base camp, its prosperity determines the power and safety of the characters who live there, and the challenges faced by a covenant shape the whole saga. The Covenants sourcebook includes:

• New Boons and Hooks, for a wide range of saga styles
• Guidance on governance and covenfolk
• Story-based rules for determining the covenant's wealth
• Rules for developing libraries and enchanting books
• Rules for personalizing and improving a magus's laboratory.

Everything you need to bring your covenant to life is here!

$29.95

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The Mysteries Revised Edition

Secrecy is Power

There are Mystery Cults beyond the four Houses within the Order of Hermes. They keep their secrets from other magi, revealing their knowledge one piece at a time to those who undergo grueling initiations. This book reveals all, from alchemists seeking immortality to theurgists trying to become gods. Now your magus can also walk the path of The Mysteries.

144 pages, hardcover

$29.95

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City & Guild

In the thirteenth century towns and cities are growing all over Mythic Europe. Covenants that were once in remote forests find themselves within sight of city walls, and regions that were once cut off from the world are now visited by traders from distant parts. For many covenants, cities are a great opportunity; craftsmen and merchants can provide anything that the covenant needs, and buy its surplus. Some covenants are even established within towns, or as small towns.

This supplement for Ars Magica Fifth Edition provides background on the facts of life in the towns of medieval Europe, and rules for craftsmen and traders. Clever magi could become the greatest merchant princes of Europe, or gain renown as suppliers of the most valuable tapestries. Less clever magi could find themselves manipulated by existing merchant princes, or tricked into buying shoddy goods. With an emphasis on stories rather than accountancy, this book opens a new stage for your Ars Magica saga.

$29.95

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The Lion and the Lily

The Ars Magica Sourcebook of the Normandy Tribunal

In much of Mythic Europe, magi build covenants in remote wildernesses to avoid contact with mundanes. In northern France — the Normandy Tribunal — this is all but impossible. The wildernesses have been tamed and plowed under, the Church plants monasteries in the wastes, noble lords build castles to enforce their rule, and great cities grow up where once was nothing but fen. The magi of the Order of Hermes have adapted to living closely with mundane society in Normandy, even distributing their limited magical resources by way of contests modeled on the chivalric tournaments of the nobility.

But while magic is under pressure in Normandy, it is far from dead. Ancient megaliths stud the landscape, faeries control many forests, and caves and burial mounds hide relics of the past. Demons and monsters imprisoned in ages past by saints and sorcerers stir uneasily in their confinement, and magi wield potent and spectacular magic throughout the land.

The Lion and the Lily provides full details for the Normandy Tribunal, where magi must balance the demands of the nobility, cities, Church, and Tribunal.

$29.95

Art & Academe

An Ars Magica Sourcebook

The magi of the Order of Hermes are not the only scholars and artists in Mythic Europe. In the Greek and Muslim lands, traditions of learning stretch back unbroken over centuries, while scholarship has emerged from long centuries of neglect in the Latin West with great vigor. From parish schools to the new universities, learning and creativity are everywhere.

Nor is this learning entirely theoretical. Doctors can cure many illnesses, and preserve the health of their charges. Natural philosophers can manipulate substances in a way that appears magical to the ill-informed, and gain some hints as to the future from the positions of the stars. The natural laws of Mythic Europe are very different from those of our world, and many strange things can be achieved by those who understand their secrets. Artists create the great cathedrals, but also more humble paintings, songs, and sculptures. The greatest of them draw the attention of the supernatural, and become part of the legends of the land.

Art & Academe provides background on the academic life of Mythic Europe, and rules for activities reaching from the astrology and alchemy of the natural philosopher to the regimens and treatments of the medic, from university disputations to the creation of masterpieces of art. Art & Academe takes your saga to the very limits of medieval scientific knowledge.

$29.95

Tales of Mythic Europe

An Ars Magica Sourcebook

Mythic Europe is a place of heroism and cowardice, honor and betrayal, wonder and horror. Introduce this full range of possibility into your saga's stories with Tales of Mythic Europe, a collection of short adventures for Ars Magica Fifth Edition.

From a ship plagued by a faerie, to a noblewoman plagued by her neighbors. From a village facing a feud, to a town facing unnatural murders. From the godly machinations of churchmen, to the diabolic machinations of demons. Combat, politics, magic, and mystery fill the stories in Tales of Mythic Europe, to help you reach the furthest limits of Mythic Europe in your own game.

$27.95

The Wizards Grimoire

Magic is the supreme power of Mythic Europe, and this tome of knowledge contains a whole host of new directions for magic. It features new templates for player character magi, essays that examine topics of concern to the wizardly class, rules for improving laboratories in a myriad of ways, sample magic items that demonstrate possibilities and save storyguide time, more than a hundred new spells for use in your Ars Magica saga, and much more.

As a revised edition, though, this supplement isn't just a reprint. In addition to updating the original Wizard's Grimoire for the Fourth Edition, this book includes a substantial portion of all new material. Completely new rules for faerie magic and a sizable expansion to the Fourth Edition's new book rules only scratch the surface. Truly, this is a must-have item for all players and storyguides who play Ars Magica Fourth Edition. 

$24.95

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Hedge Magic, Revised Edition

An Ars Magica Sourcebook

Hermetic magi believe themselves to be the undisputed masters of magic in Mythic Europe. Certainly, there are a few hedge wizards, but their numbers and powers are surely negligible compared to the might of the Order of Hermes.

Those "hedge wizards" would beg to differ.

Hedge Magic provides you with all the information needed to play a hedge wizard from any of six different traditions, or to introduce them as allies or antagonists for a Hermetic covenant. The scholarly magicians cluster in universities, while the folk witches ply their trade in the villages. Elementalists control the building blocks of reality, while gruagachan deal out curses and blessings in the interests of justice. Nightwalkers leave their bodies to fight for the prosperity of their homes, while in the vasts of the north, rune wizards patiently wait.

$29.95

Ordo Nobilis

Ordo Nobilis is a survey of Mythic European nobility. It looks behind the stereotypes, presenting a detailed picture of the noble life by defining what a noble is, what various noble ranks and titles mean, how nobles interacted with each other, and how they interacted with broader society. It examines their concerns and interests, how they lived, what they did with their time, and how they did it. 

Ordo Nobilis includes a number of new mechanical options for combat (especially knightly combat), introduces a new system for monetary record-keeping based on the Mythic Penny, contains a system for resolving legal conflicts, and presents three scenarios that take full advantage of these options. 

$25.95

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The Mysteries

From the academies of Greece, the cults of Rome, the scriptoriums of Christian monks, the minarets of Islamic sages, and the stone circles of the ancients, the mystery of magic whispers to those precious few who possess the Gift. The Order of Hermes, the legacy of the greatest wizards of Mythic Europe, listens well. 

The Mysteries dares Ars Magica players to delve deeper in the minds of magi than ever before by revealing a new level of intrigue and magic at work within the Order of Hermes. This new supplement for playing Hermetic magi exposes a treasure-trove of secrets from the discoverers of magic and the hidden sects within the Order. Dozens of new spells, lab activities, and Virtues bring medieval science, magic, and mysticism to life, including the marvels of alchemy, dream magic, astrology, and daemonology. 

$21.95

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Kabbalah

In 1018 AD, while secretly aiding the Christian forces against the Moors of Spain, the Flambeau of Val-Negra stumbled upon a small, secretive group of hedge wizards practicing their magic within the Christian city of Barcelona. Offended by this affront to the Order, the magi initiated contact with the new rivals rather bluntly: "join or die!"

Kabbalah: Mythic Judaism delves into the Jewish Quarters of Mythic Europe, investigating the full spectrum of Jewish law, history, faith, and legend. It reveals the mysteries of Kabbalah, its scope ranging from gematria to the Tree of Life to the creation of golems. In addition to providing full rules for creating kabbalist characters, it details two new classes of hedge wizards: baal shem and necromancers. Players and storyguides alike will find a wealth of information within.

$21.95

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Ultima Thule

When the universe began, there was only a chasm so immense that even the gods would become dizzy looking into it, known as the Ginnugagap. It was here that Yggdrasil — the World Tree — would lay down its roots. 

Ultima Thule: Mythic Scandinavia is the sourcebook of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and Greenland. It describes the denizens of these lands, delving into their culture, rulers, customs, calendar, myths, and deities. It talks about their often-violent relationships with Mythic Europe's other nations — England, Ireland, Scotland, and Russia, to name but a few. Scandinavian mythology is covered extensively, from otherworldly places to gods, creatures, and races. 

Ultima Thule is more than a background manual, though. It provides exhaustive rules for Norse character creation. In addition to rules for grogs and companions, new mystic companions are introduced. The vitkir are runemasters who draw their might from chiseled and drawn characters of power. A completely new system of magic is presented that allows these characters to loose the power of the runes. Finnish wind wizards are also presented; they provide a new twist on weather magic. 

Any roleplayer with an interest in Mythic Scandinavia should have Ultima Thule! 

$20.95

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Parma Fabula

Parma Fabula is a two-part supplement, consisting of a four panel, card stock storyguide's screen and an inserted booklet full of useful information.

The screen contains a wealth of useful information, including all of the charts and tables the storyguide needs to adjudicate most combat and spellcasting situations. 

The booklet is full of storyguide resources that can be used in any saga. It includes a plethora of artifacts, objets d'art, and other noteworthy items ready to be included in your own adventures, a fully-described library developed with the new fourth edition book rules in mind, to be dropped right into your own covenant; a company of mercenary grogs that are perfect as supplementary covenant guards, followers for a player character mercenary leader, or ready-made non-player characters; and much more! 

$14.95

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Triamore

Triamore is an Ars Magica Fourth Edition sourcebook covering this unique covenant, its manorial holdings, and the surrounding region. It's more than a narrow treatment of these topics, though — it's a treatise on the society, politics, and manorial life that surround every covenant, explaining how Triamore, Bois de Haillot, and Brabant are similar to — or differ from — every covenant, village, county, or duchy across Mythic Europe. More than that, Triamore presents a complete overview of a living, thriving covenant, ready for occupation as-is by a group of player characters, for use as a detailed NPC covenant, or merely as an example of what a well-developed covenant can be in an Ars Magica campaign, filled with ideas that may be scavenged for your own saga. For any storyguide or player seeking a focused look at day-to-day life in a covenant and in rural medieval society, Triamore is a complete and detailed study.

$20.95

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A Medieval Tapestry

Personalities of Mythic Europe is a 160-page sourcebook, featuring dozens of unique characters to be added to your Ars Magica saga, plus informational inserts and story ideas, as well as magus archetypes. A Medieval Tapestry serves several purposes: 

• It illustrates character creation under the rules of Fourth Edition. The characters are practical examples and creative inspiration for players and storyguides making their own characters. 
• It is a source of ready-made characters for use by players and storyguides alike. If a new player drops into your saga for one game, you can just grab a character from this book rather than generating one from scratch. Or, as a storyguide, you can turn to this book when you need an NPC on the fly. 
• The characters and related inserts educate players about the setting of Mythic Europe and medieval history. Besides being interesting in their own right, the characters shed life on the typical and the unusual in medieval society.
• Informative inserts cover such topics as medieval law, hunting in the middle ages, the Knights Templar, heresy, and more. 

$21.95

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The Mythic Seas

The Mythic Seas explores the vast, whitecapped portion of Mythic Europe covered only in water and ultimately ruled only by the whims of God. This book examines the ships that travel the ocean waters, offering rules for their creation and maintenance. It delves into the myths and legends of the briny deep, suggesting scenarios and sagas to test the mettle of magi. It provides rules for trading holds full of cargo on exotic shores. It details a host of sea-beasts mundane and magical. It offers new spells, new books, and new character archetypes. No roleplayer with any interest in high adventure should pass by The Mythic Seas! 

$16.95

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Heirs to Merlin

Heirs to Merlin: The Stonehenge Tribunal details Mythic Europe's England and Wales. This essential work surveys a fascinating land ripe for adventure, from tales of King Arthur to the death of Thomas Becket, from the coming of the Order of Hermes to the ascendance of Blackthorn covenant, and from the druids' stone circles to tales of the English saints. 

Ars Magica storyguides will come away from Heirs to Merlin with the background knowledge and inspiration necessary to run truly epic campaigns set in the Stonehenge Tribunal. And due to the multitude of saga options presented, even players of Stonehenge sagas can read Heirs to Merlin — every single page — without worry that an adventure's secrets will be spoiled. An entire troupe's access to this book will ensure a roleplaying experience of astounding depth. 

$22.95

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The Bishop's Staff

Many are the secrets of Sapientia Aetatum, an unusual winter covenant found inside the walls of an ancient Roman town.

Though many believe it dissolved long ago, one day a messenger brings the player magi an invitation to visit. Lured by the prospect of a political ally and magical trading partner, the players are drawn into a web of intrigue and dangerous entanglement with mundanes and the Church. All of their magical, investigative, and diplomatic skills will be required to find a vanished wizard, prevent a pogrom from being unleashed upon innocents, and understand the mystery of a saintly visitation. This 48-page adventure features maps and descriptions of the town, covenant, and many characters, as well as new rules for Karaite magic, an unusual tradition springing out of the mysticism of a Jewish sect that has flourished at Sapientia Aetatum.

$10.95

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Welcome to a land of contrasts . . . from the lofty mountains of Asia Minor to the luxuriant green of the Nile valley, from ageless cities to young kingdoms, from bustling sea ports to impregnable castles. Welcome to a land torn between religious wars and tortuous politics, theater of the clash between East and West, a place where two cultures collide. Welcome to a land of wonders, haunted by stone memories of lost civilizations, inhabited by powerful sorcerers, home to the finest scholars of both worlds. Welcome to a land of opportunities, where the lucky and strong can achieve fame and riches beyond measure, but where the corpses of the weak and the slow litter the ground. Blood and Sand is the guide to the Hermetic tribunal of the Levant. It details the mundane and Hermetic geography and history of the area, shaped by Islam and the Crusades. It describes the mundane and magical inhabitants of the region, be they emirs in mighty castles or traders in the Latin states, magi of Hermes or Muslim sorcerers, jinn or naddahas. From the Ark of the Covenant to the criminal underworld of Acre, this book provides everything you need for a saga set in this most volatile of Hermetic tribunals.

Author: Niall G. F. Christie, 128 pages -- 8.5" x 11"

$29.95

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Land of Fire and Ice

The Ars Magica Sourcebook of Mythic Iceland by Mark Shirley and David Woods

Visit a land of wonders . . .

a place where glaciers stretch to the horizon, where fissures pour forth rivers of molten rock, where giants still tread and ancient spirits guard forgotten secrets. Iceland sits on the edge of the frozen sea, its people clinging to the coastal lowlands while the interior is still the realm of the giants, trolls, spirits and fantastic beasts. On the civilized mainland creatures of legend may rarely show themselves, but in Iceland they rarely hide. Within Europe the Order of Hermes holds absolute magical dominion, but Icelandic magicians go about their business unaware of the Order of Hermes, its magi and their pretensions. These Norse wizards concern themselves with the politics of spirits, warding against troll raids and wresting a good growing season from Iceland's capricious weather.

Land of Fire and Ice gives your troupe the opportunity to explore this wondrous land ruled by the law, rather than by a king. Magicians live in harmony with their mundane neighbors, but feuds bubble under the veneer of civilization.

Included in Land of Fire and Ice are:

• A detailed description of Iceland's mundane and mystical landscape, culture and law
  
• Two major saga outlines and many story seeds
  
• Two magical traditions unique to Iceland, the galdramen and the trollsons

$29.95

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Sanctuary of Ice

The Ars Magica Sourcebook of the Greater Alpine Tribunal by Timothy Ferguson

The Heights of the Hermetic Order ...

For hundreds of years the magi of the Greater Alpine Tribunal have maintained Hermetic peace. Not for them the squabbles of the border tribunals, the petty incursions, the little animosities. In the valleys of the Alps, Hermetic culture and Hermetic magi have flourished. Covenants which knew the voices of the Founders nurture ancient magi here, magi whose powers caress the edges of the possible. Only those things sanctified by time survive the harshness of the mountains. Everything here is armored with the strength of centuries.

This supplement takes familiar elements of Hermetic culture and rebuilds them, without the scrimping and compromises of life at the edge of the Hermetic lands. Redcaps and Order-endorsed hedge traditions blossom under the aegis of Hermetic justice, justice enforced by the cunning and the ruthless. Hermetic trade and intrigue weave strands of interdependence between bitter rivals, so that Wizard's War seems a refreshingly rustic way of settling disputes.

Sanctuary of Ice describes the Hermetic quest for longevity, and the magi who cheat death as ghosts. It considers the plans of the Primi of House Jerbiton and House Criamon, and the schemes of magi more faerie than human. It describes Hermetic culture at the apex - the tribunal where moonlight is woven into every stone.

$29.95

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Faerie Stories

Inspired by the legends of Brittany, Faerie Stories is a collection of ideas and detailed supporting information for Ars Magica, with a common theme: encounters and dealings with faeries. It is a simple but useful tool for storyguides and their troupes; a source of tales and ideas, ready to use when the storyguide needs an incident to fill a gap in the flow of play, or is looking for some fresh inspiration. While nominally set in northwestern France, it can easily be moved elsewhere in Mythic Europe.

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Cause and Cure

An Ars Magica Adventure by Michael Geller and John Kasab

The Misty Palace is a place of danger and self-reflection, where the characters' actions determine whether they live or die. They must face themselves on a footing where there is less difference between magus and mundane, deacon and ditch-digger, grog and grape-grower than in Mythic Europe. The characters must learn more about themselves in order to survive.

$17.95

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Ancient Magic

A Player's Sourcebook for Ars Magica 5th Edition

Legends tell of the mighty wizards of the past, sorcerers with powers that dwarf those of the magi of the Order of Hermes. Hyperboreans whose spells lasted a generation, necromancers of Canaan who could summon any of the dead, rune magic that brushed aside Magic Resistance like cobwebs; all these stories circulate in the Covenants of the Order. Other forms of magic are so ancient that even the legends have become rare. The Seekers are those magi of the Order who search for these secrets, aiming for the glory of being the one to bring the power to modern magi.

This book contains descriptions of nine forms of ancient magic, and rules for integrating their secrets into Hermetic theory. From the frozen north to the westernmost edge of the world, from humankind's earliest homes to grand temples of the classical world, the quest can lead your characters anywhere in Mythic Europe, and even beyond. How far will they go for knowledge?

$29.95

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Houses of Hermes: Societates

An Ars Magica Player's Sourcebook

The third and final volume in the Houses of Hermes series, Societates covers Houses Flambeau, Jerbiton, Tytalus, and Ex Miscellanea. These houses are formed of wizards who have come together out of shared interests and philosophies.

House Flambeau includes the champions and knights of the Order, individual warriors who fight for glory and honor, both their own and that of the Order as a whole. The House admires bold adventurers who seek out and overcome fearsome opponents. Worthy opponents are chosen according to the magus's sense of honor, not external rules. As a result, many of the Order's Hoplites are from House Flambeau, as are many of the magi they hunt down.

House Jerbiton live lives in pursuit of beauty, and in pursuit of living beautifully. This requires interaction with the world beyond the Order of Hermes, both for the sake of the beauty found there and to avoid the stunted lives that result from a life lived entirely within a covenant. Experts in the use of Mentem and Imaginem, followers of Jerbiton generally prefer to interact subtly with the world. The fall of Constantinople has, however, been a great shock to them, and has pushed the House onto a more active path.

House Tytalus thrive on, and admire, conflict. The main conflict they see is between an individual's nature and the rules imposed by surrounding society, but this central conflict plays out in many, less abstract, contests. They are renowned for long-running rivalries with their Housemates, convoluted political schemes, and activities that skirt the edges of legality.

House Ex Miscellanea gathers together magi who do not fit into any other House, normally because they are still tied to elements of a pre-Hermetic tradition. The House claims to embody unity in diversity, but the emphasis is definitely on the diversity. This book provides eight detailed examples of traditions within the House, complete with rules for their non-Hermetic abilities.

Format: 144 pages, hardcover

$29.95

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