Sub Rosa magazine

Sub Rosa is a PDF-based Ars Magica-magazine published by Mark Lawford and Ben McFarland. It is an independent publication produced by the fan community, not affiliated with Atlas Games, so it is called a fanzine. It is none the less a high-quality production featuring professional-quality editing, layout, and artwork.

Alex White was the founding publisher of Sub Rosa until Ben and Mark took over production.

Web Site

The Sub Rosa web site provides information on the current issue and subscription rates. If you want to write for the the fanzine, see its "contribute" page.

Contributions

Many of the authors of Fifth Edition write for Sub Rosa. David Chart writes a regular column where he discusses upcoming products. But Sub Rosa gladly accepts article submissions from any and all Ars Magica enthusiasts. Writers do not get paid (they do receive a free issue). Writing for Sub Rosa is one of the ways to break into writing for the game, so if you're interested, give it a try!

Content

Here is a list of what you can find in each issue.

Issue 1, September 2007

Issue 1 was released in September 2007 with Mark Philp as editor and Alex White on the Editorial Committee with him. Alex was also the cover artist and he, along with Jojo Aguilar and Angela Taylor provided interior art. Articles included in this issue were:

• The Art of Courtly Love by Danielle Nichols starting at page 6 is presented as an in character open letter to the magi of the Greater Alps Tribunal listing one set of the rules of love popular at the time of the official start date and discussing the place of magi in the art of love.

• Covenant Locations: Masada by Ben McFarland starting on page 9 was the first in a series that gave covenant ideas for starting covenants. In this article, Ben fleshed out a site in a former palace of King Herod in the Levant Tribunal.

• Hermetic Vignettes by Kurt Konegren starting on page 12 gave short snippets in the lives of two apprentices, their amici masters, and each of their masters' familiars.

• The Tartalo by Eric Vesbit starting on page 15 is an adventure that can be fit into a larger story at a point when the characters are travelling. As written, it is set in an eastern pass of the Pyrenees, so likely in the Provencal Tribunal.

• The Knights Templar or The Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon (article title varies between the table of contents and the article itself) by Alex White starting on page 18 is the first of a five part series in which Alex presents the Knights Templar. In this installment, he gives the real history of this order. Later installments will present the knights as they might be in Mythic Europe.

• The End of the Hohenstaufen by Michaël de Verteuil starting on page 29 is the first in a series of historical vignettes on noble families and personalities, in this case, the history, and notably the end, of the line of the Emperor Frederick II Hohenstaufen. He continues coverage of this line in a second part in issue 2.

• Florilegium of House Bjornaer by Mark Shirley starting at page 32 is an article in which Mark presents his thinking on how he presented House Bjornaer, its Bjornaer the Founder and it's history in the section on that house in Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults. This article also presents write ups on two "bits and pieces", as Mark puts it, that didn't make it into the book: Lost Cubs and Feral Magi.

Issue 2, February 2008

Issue 2 was released in September 2008 with Mark Philp as editor. Alex White the cover artist and he, along with Jeff A. Menges and Angela Taylor provided interior art. Articles included in this issue were:

• The Grand Tribunal 2007 by Neil Taylor on page 5 is a report on the UK Grand Tribunal (convention) for that year.

• Jinn as Characters by Lachlan Hayes starting at page 6 provides rules for jinn characters. This article was based on the jinn as presented in Houses of Hermes: Societates and predated the publication of Realms of Power: Magic, Realms of Power: Faerie and most important, The Cradle and the Crescent. However, Lachie (as his first name is listed in that book) contributed to the section on jinn as well as other parts of Cradle and the Crescent.

• Mythic Europe: Real Places by Alex Sandison tells of the mythic version of Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales in the Stonehenge Tribunal. The description is told in character by one James of Jerbiton.

• The Path of the Circle by Timothy Ferguson and Mark Shirley (both of whom contibuted to Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults starting on page 14 provides a Criamon Path of inner mysteries that did not make it into HoH:MC, both because it may have been too powerful and it would have locked the magic realm into a form that was not appropriate for canon.

• The End of the Hohenstaufen Pt II by Michaël de Verteuil starting on page 19 finishes the coverage of the history, and notably the end, of the line of the Emperor Frederick II Hohenstaufen in what is meant to be a series of historical vignettes on noble families and personalities.

• Wheostan the Old by Mark Lawford starting on page 22 is billed as an adventure, but is more of fleshed out character that can provide story hooks and information.

• Beasts of the Realm by Ben McFarland starting on page starting page 28 is the first in a series of articles that presents stats and write ups for various mythical creatures. In this article, Ben presents his take on three creatures aligned to the realm of magical- griffins, basilisks, and sirens.

• Templar Apotropaics/Templars Part 2: The Apotropaics (the titles again differ a bit between the table of contents and the article itself) by Alexander White presents his second treatment. Here he presents a history where the order was formed by a group of bishops, nobles, and magi dedicated to hunting and destroying the infernal. As a part of this alternate history of the article, he also tries to redeem some content from the Third Edition products Pax Dei and the Maleficium.

• Jerod's Cave by P. R. Chase starting on page 36 is another article billed as an adventure, but more presenting a magical location that can provide information to players as well as be used to dole out story hooks.

-More to come

Past Issues and Reviews

Reviews of each issue of Sub Rosa are available in this thread on the official discussion forum.

Sub-Rosa is Non-Profit

In a discussion on the Berklist in late August 2012, the publishers pointed out that Sub Rosa is a completely non-profit publication. The publishers volunteer their time.

On our wages: There are none. It's been said elsewhere in the maelstrom but I'll reiterate it. Neither Ben nor I take anything out except satisfaction.

--Mark Lawford

100% of the subscription fees go to production costs.

See also

• Other Fanzines.
• Writing Supplements

External links

• Sub Rosa site