Virtues and Flaws

Virtues and Flaws are special attributes possessed by Ars Magica characters. Virtues are beneficial (but may include some drawbacks) and Flaws are detrimental (but may include some advantages).

Each Virtue or Flaw has a cost, with Virtues having a positive cost and Flaws having a negative cost. Each Ars Magica character type has an allowance stating how many Virtues the character can have; the exact allowance varies depending on character type (and edition of the rules).

Balancing Virtues and Flaws

In most cases, the total cost of a characters' Virtues and Flaws must add to zero; Virtues have to be paid for by choosing an equivalent value of Flaws. There are some exceptions. For instance, in ArM5, all magi get a "free" Minor Virtue from their Houses.

After balancing Virtues and Flaws, the total cost of the character's Virtues must be within the allowance for his character type.

Types of Virtues and Flaws

ArM5 categorizes Virtues and Flaws as follows:

• General Virtues and Flaws
• Hermetic Virtues and Flaws
• Heroic Virtues and Flaws
• Supernatural Virtues and Flaws
• Personality Flaws
• Story Flaws

Acquiring Virtues and Flaws

In the RAW, there are two main ways to acquire Virtues and Flaws: at Character Creation, or through Initiation into a Mystery. In addition, Forest Paths, Original Research, and integrating ancient magic all provide - typically much harder - means to gain V&F in-play.

Some storyguides allow characters to acquire or lose Virtues and Flaws over the course of the Saga; for example, a character might acquire a new Enemy, or defeat an Enemy she had at the start of play. This makes sense from a character-development point of view, but there are no formal rules for doing it. Some storygiudes dislike changing characters' Virtues and Flaws over time, and other allow it occasionally but insist that overall Virtues and Flaws remain balanced (that is, any new Virtues are offset by new Flaws, or any Flaws lost are replaced by new Flaws of equivalent cost).

References

• ArM5 28-30 and 36-40
• Further V&F are presented on HoHTL ?? (Bonisagus), 103-106, 141-143.
• [[httpr V&F are presented on HoHTL ?? (Bonisagus), 103-106, 141-143.
• | Virtues and Flaws Index, courtesy of Atlas Games and Erik Dahl
• Fifth Edition [[http://www.a

Legacy Page

The history of this page before August 6, 2010 is archived at Legacy:virtues_and_flaws