Ronnie Sanford
Legendary Pubber
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- Aug 13, 2017
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Has anyone played this? Can you describe the mechanics a bit? How crunchy is the game? Any special challenges in running it?
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I love the idea of AM —the setting exudes fantastic Medieval awesomeness; troupe play sounds fun; ditto the "syntactic" magic system; love the idea of Wizards doing research and being civil douches to each other — but it sounds very demanding in terms of commitment. I run for a fairly casual crowd and I'm kind of a lazy bum myself when it comes to crunch.
I'm really happy to hear that people like Ladybird are still playing this fantastic game. It just felt like the game was poised for greater popularity in the early '90s, and the developers took it the other way.
Near the end of second edition, there was an upcoming supplement that never came out. It was going to be a new setting for the game, placing it in a fantasy world dominated by magi. While I really like the historical setting, those kind of settings are very intimidating to a lot of players. AM had the double obstacle of a complex system and a historical setting. An alternate version of the game with a fantasy setting seemed a great idea to widen the fanbase. I hope someone does it some day.
I hope I am not coming off as too negative.
For those interested there are two new offers on Bundle of Holding for Ar5
Ars Magica
Wizards & Power
Yes, it was a simpler version of the same system.Didn't the Rune RPG reuse the AM combat mechanics?
Serious question:
If I've got ACKS, what value would I gain from the addition of Ars Magica? I can emulate wizards in towers working to perfect their magic while simultaneously managing their domain using ACKS and a few related games. If I can do this already, why invest time (learning, planning, creating with a new system) into Ars Magica?
I'm not being snarky or harshing on AM. I'm seriously asking.
Ho boy. That is not a comparison you want to make...
...mainly because ACKS mages build dungeons for monsters to lair in, so they can farm them for body parts; and there's an actual chance that a NPC party will show up to loot it.
Which is to say, ACKS > Ars Magica.
Serious question:
If I've got ACKS, what value would I gain from the addition of Ars Magica? I can emulate wizards in towers working to perfect their magic while simultaneously managing their domain using ACKS and a few related games. If I can do this already, why invest time (learning, planning, creating with a new system) into Ars Magica?
I'm not being snarky or harshing on AM. I'm seriously asking.
Ho boy. That is not a comparison you want to make...
...mainly because ACKS mages build dungeons for monsters to lair in, so they can farm them for body parts; and there's an actual chance that a NPC party will show up to loot it.
Which is to say, ACKS > Ars Magica.
If you can find it, Second Edition has simpler lab rules. It makes a big difference as Ars Magica is a game where every player needs to fully understand and use the lab rules. The rules bloat after second edition, while nicely done, made it much harder to actually get a group on board to play.
Compared to that, I dont even have a big issue with AM5 mechanics. I chew through rules pretty rapidly and have a few players who'd have no issue with that, but who would have more problems memorizing all the factions, and in some cases getting up to speed with real world history of that period…
Compared to that, I dont even have a big issue with AM5 mechanics. I chew through rules pretty rapidly and have a few players who'd have no issue with that, but who would have more problems memorizing all the factions, and in some cases getting up to speed with real world history of that period…
On top that, if there is a war happening where your covenant is set, you hear about it in play. You don't need to read a book about the war and its outcome before playing.As a player, you don't need to worry too much about real-world history; understanding the basic headlines is enough, because your character probably won't interact with it, and while magi are learned people, they also have their own local goings-on to deal with. If there's a war going on in France, and your game is set in Yorkshire... you're probably not going to have heard that much about the war itself, but you'll be dealing with the consequences of many good workers having been sent to France.
It seems we've got different approaches to immersion here, or are just talking about different levels of knowledge. For me, and for at least half my players, knowing the basic details of day-to-day life in a game setting is usually quite important -- and fantasy actually makes it easier to handwave things. So for a historic setting, where I play someone rather well educated (the mage or a scholarly/noble character in the troupe), I'd want to know a few of the "basics". How the money and power flows in a state, the rough tech level and art (i.e. mostly what isn't there yet), a few relevant details of the law and an outline of current events (heresies, wars, plagues).As a player, you don't need to worry too much about real-world history; understanding the basic headlines is enough, because your character probably won't interact with it, and while magi are learned people, they also have their own local goings-on to deal with. If there's a war going on in France, and your game is set in Yorkshire... you're probably not going to have heard that much about the war itself, but you'll be dealing with the consequences of many good workers having been sent to France.
I've had the same problems, even with the 3rd edition, which is the one that got translated here in the 90s.I love the idea of AM —the setting exudes fantastic Medieval awesomeness; troupe play sounds fun; ditto the "syntactic" magic system; love the idea of Wizards doing research and being civil douches to each other — but it sounds very demanding in terms of commitment. I run for a fairly casual crowd and I'm kind of a lazy bum myself when it comes to crunch.
It seems we've got different approaches to immersion here, or are just talking about different levels of knowledge. For me, and for at least half my players, knowing the basic details of day-to-day life in a game setting is usually quite important -- and fantasy actually makes it easier to handwave things. So for a historic setting, where I play someone rather well educated (the mage or a scholarly/noble character in the troupe), I'd want to know a few of the "basics". How the money and power flows in a state, the rough tech level and art (i.e. mostly what isn't there yet), a few relevant details of the law and an outline of current events (heresies, wars, plagues).
someone rather well educated (the mage or a scholarly/noble character in the troupe), I'd want to know a few of the "basics". How the money and power flows in a state, the rough tech level and art (i.e. mostly what isn't there yet), a few relevant details of the law and an outline of current events (heresies, wars, plagues).
Magi spend their time studying magic exclusively; the social ineptitude of magi in Ars Magica due to this has been part of the setting since the beginning
I would love to play Fifth Edition, but I can't imagine ever running it without losing my mind. Or losing my job and my marriage!
I think I might have my Aria books packed away somewhere if you want to get to second base.Luckily for me, I've already lost what passed for my mind, so I'm down for some AM5.
Followed by some Exalted 3rd. Because I don't just want to embrace the madness; I want to french kiss it.
I think I might have my Aria books packed away somewhere if you want to get to second base.