In my entire collection (inventoried so far) I have two items from Ars Magica that I can find. I suspect I have more but just not inventoried yet. I have never played the game and know very little about it. I am actually surprised I have anything from it and that I payed as much for this book as I did given I know nothing about the game. It is packed away in storage so I can't speak to why I bought it. I can only imagine it has to be amazing for me to pay $9 for a game I have no interest in playing and have really no knowledge about. It is possible I payed that much since it was a Wizards of the Coast product at one point or that I recognized the name Jonathan Tweet. Regardless I am afraid I can't offer much insight into it. I wish I could say more but I am only posting it because it was next in line in the inventory.
Published: 1994
Pages: 152
From the publisher website:
Learn the Secrets of the Magi
Houses of Hermes describes the twelve houses that compose the Order of Hermes, their origins, their histories, and their recent actions. It provides important and dynamic information for players and story guides alike, adding detail and drama to any Ars Magica saga. It includes:
* A plot connected to each house. Each plot is grand enough to serve as the focus of your troupe's saga.
* Story ideas for each house, for shorter-term play. These ideas bring the natures and styles of the various houses to life.
* Sample magi who can serve as the player characters' masters, as non-player character in your saga, or as models for mid-level magi.
* New spells and abilities representing the houses' differing specialties, including faerie magic and the special spells of the quaesitoris.
* An in-depth treatment of apprenticeship, from the apprentice's and master's points of view.
* A record of the Order's history, from ancient times to A.D. 1220, including the crises that have shaken the Order and the growing threat from mundane civilization.
From RPGGEEK:
This book was published with an Ars Magica fourth edition logo on the cover. This logo does not refer to the fourth edition of Ars Magica that was eventually published by Atlas in late 1996 (two years after Houses of Hermes) but to a fourth edition that Wizards of the coast had planned to release in 1995.
The game mechanics in Houses of Hermes are completely compatible with third edition Ars Magica they do not reflect the game mechanics changes that took place with the release of fourth edition.
Spell:
Disposable Wealth
Level: Second
Range: 6"
Duration: Permanent
Area of Effect: 2" Sphere
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 2 Rounds
Saving Throw: None
With this spell the magic user is able to convert magical items directly into coins or at their discretion gems. The amount received will be a small portion of the actual value of the items.
When the spell is cast the magic user will need to have placed all of the items they wish to convert into coins all in the same place. The items can not be piled on top of each other and all of them must fit in a circle whose diameter is no more than 20'.
When the spell is completed the coins or gems will appear in the middle of the circle in place of the magical items. Only working magic items will be converted and for items with charges the value will be a percentage based off of the remaining charges. After the value is calculated the caster will receive 25% of that value in money. This amount will be modified by the Reaction Adjustment percentage for the caster's charisma.
The material components of this spell will be the inks and chalks required to draw the circle the items are to be placed in. This spell can not be cast without some sort of magical items in the circle of course.
Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the write ups last, were all written up or conceived of back in the 80's so the terminology may not appropriate for anything other than 1e and depending on how well I did back then it may be slightly off for that as well. If there is any duplication of spells that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :) Please feel free to comment on them but try not to be too hard on me. If anyone wishes to use these in anything they print please let me know in advance and all I ask is proper credit.
1 comment:
I always wanted to play Ars.
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