Buying guide
New players in particular often ask, "What Ars Magica books should I buy?" There is no one simple answer. The best supplements for your game depend your style of play and the kinds of stories you tell.
The Essentials
There is only one truly essential rule book: the core book. You can download a copy of ArM4 for free to get a feel for the game. ArM5 is generally accepted as a better edition, but it's not free.
The core rule book is a perfectly playable, stand-alone game. It might be a good idea to get started with playing it, and then decide on your next purchase once you have some experience with the rules and the setting.
Choosing Your First Supplements
The best way to choose which supplements to buy is to look through the list of Products, both here and on the Atlas Games website, and see what's in them. Many of the more recent products have complete tables of contents online.
Once you've become familiar with the rules and the setting, you can choose a supplement that will add to your Saga the elements that most appeal to you.
Asking for Suggestions
Feel free to ask the Fan Community what they'd recommend, but be prepared to get at least five or six different answers. To narrow things down a bit, tell us as much as possible about your interests. A question like "My three friends and I are about to start our first Saga. It will be a Spring covenant near Köln. One of the players wants to play a Quaesitor and another wants to play an Ex Miscellanea but can't decide what tradition to play. If we were to buy just one supplement, what should it be?" will get much more informative answers than just saying, "hi, I'm new, what books should I buy?"
Common Recommendations
When new players do ask the generic "what books should I buy?" question, the most common responses seem to be: