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.

Veteran Ars Magica players are clamoring to know what is new and different about 5th Edition. Here are some of the rules change highlights:

Magic resistance has been changed so that the Parma Magica is actually the defense it's always been said to be.

The Laboratory rules have been streamlined and unified around a single core mechanic -- the spell invention mechanic from earlier editions.

The spell guidelines have been cleaned up, clarified, and made as consistent as possible.

The combat rules have been completely rewritten so that armor and shield grogs are more useful.

The introduction to Mythic Europe has been rewritten to provide information that's immediately useful in play.

Character creation has been revised to create characters, including magi, at any age, and to create characters of similar power to those advanced through play.

There is already an enormous library of Ars Magica supplements in our catalog, and we will continue to sell them. As a rule, we expect older sourcebooks to be usable with the new edition, and we expect them to continue to sell (just as many 3rd edition books remained strong sellers throughout the life of 4th Edition). It will be some years before there are 5th Edition replacements for many of these books.