Transforming Mythic Europe Credits
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Transforming Mythic Europe Credits AUTHORS: Timothy Ferguson (Island), Mark Lawford (Fourth AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES Estate), Mark Shirley (Magitech) DEVELOPMENT, EDITING, & PROJECT MANAGEMENT: David Chart PROOFREADING, LAYOUT, & ART DIRECTION: Cam Banks Timothy Ferguson is a librarian on the Gold Coast in Aus- LAYOUT ASSISTANCE: Michelle Nephew tralia. He first had the idea for this when on a dodgy PUBLISHER: John Nephew canal tour of Chester in the UK, and he’d like to thank COVER ILLUSTRATION: Christian St. Pierre the presenter for making the trip so boring, and food INTERIOR ART: Jason Cole, Jenna Fowler, Christian St. Pierre, so plain, that the tour group demanded to get out in Gabriel Verdon the rain to see how the lock mechanism worked. As ADDITIONAL ART: Astrology & Astronomy. Mineola, NY: Dover always: for Linda and Amelia. Publications, Inc., 2006. Castles. Mineola, NY: Dover Mark Lawford lives and works in Eastbourne on England’s Publications, Inc., 2007. Medieval Illustrations. Mineola, NY: sunny south coast. Writing and gaming continue to Dover Publications, Inc., 2001. Mineola, Medieval Life & People. provide an effective balance to the ones and zeroes of NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 2007. his day job but he’s just embarked on some original fic- ARS MAGICA FIFTH EDITION TRADE DRESS: J. Scott Reeves tion to weight it all back in the right direction. PUBLISHER’S SPECIAL THANKS: Jerry Corrick & the gang at the Source. Mark Shirley is a zoologist living in Northern England. FIRST ROUND PLAYTESTERS: Jason Brennan, Justin Brennan, Elisha He admits to being pretty useless with technology: he Campbell, Robert Major; Leon Bullock, Peter Ryan, Chris doesn’t drive, prefers not to fly, and doesn’t have a cell Barrett, John A Edge; Eirik Bull, Helge Rager Furuseth, Karl phone. Nevertheless, he is eternally grateful to inven- Trygve Kalleberg, André Neergaard, Sigurd Lund; Jason tors such as Johannes Gutenberg, Charles Babbage, Fryer, Matt Dyson, Emily Dyson; Donna Giltrap, Malcolm Louis Lumiere, and John Logie Baird who have given Harbrow, Aaron Hicks, Richard Love; Christian Rosenkjaer him things he loves. Andersen, Pelle Kofod SECOND ROUND PLAYTESTERS: Leon Bullock, Peter Ryan, Chris Barrett, John A Edge; Christian Jensen Romer, Luke Price, Kevin Sides, Thomas Nowell, Lloyd Graney; Eirik Bull, Karl Trygve Kalleberg, Helge Rager Furuseth, André Neergaard, Sigurd Lund; Donna Giltrap, Malcolm Harbrow, Aaron Hicks, Richard Love; Pelle Kofod, Christian Rosenkjaer Andersen; Nicholas Peterson, Jennafyr Peterson, Dan Byrne; MaPhi Werner Ars Magica players participate in a thriving fan community by subscribing to email discussion lists (like the Berkeley list), compiling archives of game material (such as Project Redcap), maintaining fan-created web sites, and running demos through Atlas Games’ Special Ops program. To learn more, visit www.atlas-games.com/ArM5. You can also participate in discussions of Ars Magica at the official Atlas Games forums located at forum.atlas-games.com. Copyright © 2013–2015 Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work by any means without written permission from the publisher, except short excerpts for the purpose of reviews, is expressly prohibited. Ars Magica, Mythic Europe, and Charting New Realms of Imagination are trademarks of Trident, Inc. Order of Hermes, Tremere, and Doissetep are trademarks of White Wolf, Inc. and are used with permission. Digital Version 1.0 2 Transforming Mythic Europe Contents Credits 2 The Church ...................................25 A New Kind of Politics ................48 Gaining the Support of the Pope .........26 SIMILAR KINDS OF CHANGE................ 48 Contents 3 Using Guilds as a Model ...............26 Spread Understanding of the Introduction 6 A New Breed of Craftsman .............26 Supernatural World ......................48 PLANNING FOR LONG SAGAS ................ 6 The Supernatural Realms .............27 Work Within the Church ............49 Saga Speed .....................................7 Service, Tribute, & Fosterage ...........27 Use Gifted Proxies .......................49 To the Future ...................................7 Rivals Outside the Order .............27 The World Changes Saga Style.......................................7 THE TOOLS OF POLITICS .................. 27 Around the Order ........................50 Future Events ..................................7 Writing and Responding to Polemic ..27 Taking the Lonely Stand ..............50 Polemic..........................................28 OPPOSING INTEGRATION ................... 51 Diatribe .........................................28 A Change for the Worse ..............51 The Fourth Estate 8 Apologia .......................................28 Running Stories The Four Estates ............................8 The Prevailing Wisdom .................29 on the Verge of Change ...............51 The State of the World ..................9 Winning the Argument...................29 The Example of the TRANSFORMATION .............................. 9 Circulating the Text .......................29 Normandy Tribunal ......................52 The End State ................................9 The Argument Total .......................31 CONCLUSION .................................. 53 The Moral Authority ......................9 Responding with Diatribe ..............31 Rights of the Fourth Estate .............10 Responding with Apologia .............35 Obligations & Responsibilities ........10 Taking the Debate to Tribunal .........35 The Island of the Magicians 54 Why the Order Charters .......................................35 CONSTRUCTION: Would Want to Change ...............11 Optional Rule: Charter Strength .........36 EARTH JACKETED IN STONE................ 54 The World on Hermetic Terms ...12 Grants of Land ..............................37 Outer Wall Shapes .......................54 What Prevents the Order from Charters of Rights & Obligations ........ 37 Open Ended Cylinder ....................55 Bettering the World? ....................12 Examples of Charters .....................37 Tall Empty Cylinder ......................55 HOW TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE ....... 13 USING MAGIC FOR POLITICAL LEVERAGE ..38 Open Ended Rectangular Prism ........56 The Process of Change ................13 Health and Pestilence ..................39 Solid Stone Cylinder ......................56 Leveraging Hooks, Boons, The Care of the Sick.......................39 Ablative Slope ...............................56 & Story Flaws ...............................14 Living Conditions ..........................40 Ornamentation ............................56 Covenant Hooks and Boons ...........14 Longevity Effects ............................41 Fortified Wall ................................56 Character Story Flaws ..................16 Harvests and Livestock ................41 Sea Gates and Docks .....................57 A Growing Awareness ..................17 Protecting Livestock From Predators .........42 Statuary .......................................57 The Tribunal ................................18 Castles and Cathedrals ................43 Wall Materials Other Than Stone .........58 Building Support Before the Tribunal ...18 Aegis of the Hearth ........................43 Base Metals ...................................58 Supporting Test Cases ....................19 Peace and Governance .................43 Noble Metals .................................58 Clarifying the Peripheral Code ..........19 Truth and Justice ...........................43 Unnatural Stones ..........................58 Mundane Testimony ......................20 Binding Agreements ........................44 Biological Substances .....................58 Local Customs ...............................20 Inheritance .....................................44 Backfilling the Enclosed Space ........59 Foreign Tribunals ..........................21 Protection from Invasion .............45 Stealing a Rock .............................59 House Politics ................................21 STORIES OF THE FOURTH ESTATE ....... 45 Dirt, With a Layer of Topsoil ........59 The Grand Tribunal .....................23 Interest From Other Magical Traditions ..45 Clay .............................................59 In Favor of Change........................23 Hostility ........................................46 Stone .............................................59 Against the Change........................23 Cessation of Hostility.....................46 Cisterns .........................................60 Undecided .....................................24 The World of Academia ..............47 Rooms and Utility Spaces..............60 HOW POLITICS EFFECTS CHANGE ....... 24 Mundane Engagement .................47 Surface Structures ........................60 Mundane Allies & Enemies...........24 Responsibilities ..............................47 Road works ...................................60 Kings and Nobles ..........................24 The Old Guard ............................48 Creating Houses & Other Buildings .........60 3 Transforming Mythic Europe Water Works.................................61 Example Device: Quills of New Spells for Instant Travel ........108 Surface Life ..................................62 Arcane Correspondence ..............93 Bring the Herd to Market .............108 Creating Fields and Forests .............62 Description ....................................93 A Bridge Without Wood ..............108 How Many Peasants Are Needed? ........62