FAQ

This article is about a list of frequently-asked questions. For a list of articles that address frequently-asked questions, see Category:FAQ.

If you would like a beginner's introduction to Ars Magica, please see Learning to Play.

These questions, and answers, come from the Ars Magica Fan Community. The answers are unofficial but represent the best judgment of a large body of experienced players.

Basic Questions

• What is Ars Magica?
• What is a tabletop roleplaying game?

The Ars Magica Product Line

• Is Ars Magica out of print?
• What are the future plans for Ars Magica products?
• What Products are available?
• Which Ars Magica book(s) should I buy?
• Can one of the authors or playtesters leak details of (upcoming product)?
• Is there an OGL / D20 conversion for Ars Magica?
• Why do some of Ars Magica supplements have hard covers (and others have soft covers)?
• What is the history of the Ars Magica game?

Mythic Europe

• What is the Medieval Paradigm?
• How is Ars Magica related to the World of Darkness (also known as Storyteller) games?
  • What is this about Tremere and vampires?
• How do I say (something) in Latin?
• In Ars Magica, are the pagan gods Magical, Faerie, or what?
• Can you recommend some good reading material that can inform or inspire my Ars Magica game?

Fan Community

• Does Ars Magica have an active Fan Community?
• How many people make up the Ars Magica community?
• How can I find a troupe to join?
• Can one of the authors of (upcoming supplement) give us some inside details?
• Can I write a supplement for Ars Magica?
• Who is in charge of the Ars Magica product line?
• Can I write an entry for this FAQ?

Fifth Edition

Newcomers may also find the introduction to Game Mechanics informative.

• What are the differences between Fourth Edition and Fifth Edition?

Rules Status

• Are there Errata for Fifth Edition?
• I need an official ruling on (X)
• Why has (rule X) been removed from Fifth Edition?
• Why was (X) changed in (new edition / new product)?
• Are the older Tribunal books still useful?
• Will Atlas make available free downloads with conversion stats for older supplements to Fifth Edition?

Characters, Abilities, and Virtues and Flaws

• Why are something called "Body Levels" listed on the character sheet? What are they?
• How does the Faerie Magic Ability (on the Merinita template, ArM5 page 27) work?
• Are the Minor Story Flaws, like Blackmail and Animal Companion, really Flaws?
• Do Virtues that affect the way a character gains experience points - Wealthy, Secondary Insight, Elementalist, and so on - affect starting experience points?
• Does the Puissant Ability Virtue affect what the character can teach and write? Does Puissant Magic Theory let a character use more vis in the lab?
• How exactly does the Fast Caster Virtue work?
• What are the statistics for a shapeshifter (such as a Bjornaer magus or a character with the Shapeshifter Virtue) in beast form?
• Has the social effect of the Gift changed in Fifth Edition?

Spells

Forms & Techniques

• What Form is electricity?

Spell Effects

• Is there any way for a magus to create permanent magical effects in Fifth Edition?
• Is temporary, magically-created food nourishing?
• Can the damage from a Momentary Perdo effect be healed?
• Can a Momentary Perdo spell permanently remove a natural property of something, for example, make an object permanently weightless?
• How do General spells work?

Casting Spells

• Shouldn't there be a die roll for non-fatiguing spontaneous magic?
• What is the fast-casting speed roll (p. 83) for?
• Can a magus cast spells directly from a text?
• How does Multiple Casting work?
• How does one cast a General spell?

Questions on Specific Spells

• Is Incantation of Summoning the Dead really supposed to be a ritual?

Magic Resistance, Penetration, and Parma Magica

Most of the following questions are addressed in detail in the (lengthy) article on Magic Resistance.

Magic Resistance Mechanics

• Please explain in simple terms how Magic Resistance works.
• Does Magic Resistance protect against the Divine?
• Does Magic Resistance keep out helpful spells like healing spells?
• Does Magic Resistance protect against the claws or teeth of a magical creature?
• How would magic resistance affect a sword that's enhanced by a spell?
• Does magic resistance keep out enchanted devices?
• Since magic resistance keeps out magical things, doesn't it keep out illusions?
• What is the " Pink Dot Loophole?" Is there a way to close it?

Penetration Mechanics

• Do wards have to penetrate in order to keep out a creature with Magic Resistance?
• Does Aegis of the Hearth have to penetrate in order to keep out a creature with Magic Resistance?

Design of Magic Resistance

• Why doesn't Magic Resistance just dispel magical effects?
• Why can't non-Hermetic magicians (hedge wizards) have Magic Resistance similar to Parma Magica?

Laboratory

• Do lab helpers increase the amount of vis a magus can use in a season?
• Where are the rules for learning spells from a text?
• How are Verditius Runes supposed to work?

Books, Study, and Experience

• What is meant on p. 165 by " Summae: Source - Quality and Level?"

Combat

• Do Wound and Fatigue Penalty penalties apply to Soak totals?
• Do Wound Penalties apply to wound recovery rolls?
• Where are the rules for crossbows?
• The rules in Fifth Edition Covenants say it takes a very long time to reload a crossbow. Are those times realistic?
• Why would anyone want to use a crossbow, when longbows are so much better?
• Where can I find house rules for crossbows and/or longbows?
• How does one calculate Attack and Defense for missile weapons?
• What are the rules for movement in combat?
• Where are the rules for making an all-out attack or defense?
• Where are the rules for combat fatigue?
• What are the rules for charging?
• What happens to a character's Initiative Total if he changes weapons?
• How does Initiative work for spellcasting?
• Where can I find house rules for more combat options, variant weapon stats, and so on?

Miscellaneous Rules Questions

• How far is a pace?

Fourth Edition (and earlier editions) Questions

• How does the Parma Magica work in Fourth Edition?
• Is Perdo Imaginem too easy?
• "How do I use Range, Duration, and Target?"
• Can my wizard create ritual spell to lift an entire mountain five hundred feet into the air permanently? If so, what level would it be?
• Can a magus create a golem and switch minds with it and thus escape old age?
• Is ice part of Aquam, or what?
• "Is combat busted?"
• A sample combat

Legacy Page

The history of this page before July 21, 2012 is located at Legacy:Faq