Artes Liberales
Artes Liberales (a Latin phrase meaning "liberal arts") are the academic studies that form the foundation of a medieval education. They are important to magi and to scholarly characters.
The Seven Liberal Arts
The Artes Liberales consists of seven distinct subjects divided into two sub-catgeories, the Trivium and the Quadrivium.
The Trivium
The Trivium includes the three subjects of grammar, logic, and rhetoric.
The Quadrivium
The Quadrivium includes the subjects of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music (meaning music theory, not performance).
Artes Liberales in Fifth Edition
In ArM5, Artes Liberales is an Academic Ability. In addition to knowledge of the trivium and quadrivium, it covers literacy. Characters without it cannot read or write[1]. For each point in Artes Liberales, a character is eligible to know one writing system[1][2](such as the Latin alphabet, the Greek alphabet, and so on).
Artes Liberales for Magi
Since one of Hermetic Magic greatest strengths, the ability to transmit knowledge between praactitioners via the written word, relies heavily on the ability to read and write, every magus needs an Artes Liberales score of at least 1[3].
The magus's score in Artes Liberales adds to the Casting Total for ritual spells. Presumably this is because knowledge of the Quadrivium helps the magus properly take account of astrological influences, draw geometric figures during ritual spells, and so on.
Similarly, Artes Liberales adds to the Casting Total for ceremonial casting.
Artes Liberales for Mundanes
Artes Liberales is an Academic Ability, so it is only available to characters who have access to those Abilities.
Applications of Artes Liberales
The rules provide relatively few opportunities for mundanes to use Artes Liberales: the main uses are in learning writing systems and in disputatio[4].
Magi use Artes Liberales in the following ways:
- It is part of the Casting Total for Ritual spells[5]
- In ceremonial casting[6]
- To cast a horoscope for use as a sympathetic connection[7]
- In certain Mysteries such as Planetary Magic and Arithmetic Magic
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Artes Liberales," Ars Magica Fifth Edition, p. 62
- ↑ "Writing Systems", Art and Academe, p. 19
- ↑ "Hermetic Magic Recommended Minimum Abilities" (inset), Ars Magica Fifth Edition, p. 32
- ↑ "Disputatio," Art and Academe, p. 104
- ↑ "Ritual Magic," ArM5, p. 81
- ↑ "Ceremonial Casting," ArM5, p. 83
- ↑ "Sympathetic Connections" (inset), ArM5, p. 84
Legacy Page
The history of this page before August 6, 2010 is archived at Legacy:artes_liberales