Ars Magica 5E Standard Edition, Chapter Six: Covenants
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The covenant is the single most important character in most Ars Magica sagas, because it is the character that all the players contribute to. It is their home, a secure base, and the place where they study, improve, and create magical wonders. Thus, coming up with a concept for the covenant is very important, as it will have a strong influence on the feel of the saga. A saga based on a covenant located in a hidden regio in the heart of Constantinople will be very different from one based in a covenant occupying a large castle on an island off the coast of Scotland, and different again from one based in a covenant in a magical glade in the heart of a haunted forest in Brittany.
Although the covenant concept has an influence, it isn't all-defining. Many stories will, after all, take the magi away from their covenant, and if the troupe decides it likes a particular sort of story, most of them may take place away from home. Covenants can even be moved, a proposition that will create a lot of stories in itself. This means you should choose a concept you like to start, without worrying that you'll be stuck with it forever.
Covenant Seasons
The Order of Hermes traditionally classifies covenants into four seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. These informal labels refer to the different stages of a covenant's life, and most magi agree on them most of the time. They are also an important part of the covenant concept, because a lot of features depend on the season.
Spring
Spring covenants are just getting started. They are recently established, have few resources, and are generally populated by few and weak magi. Many Spring covenants fail to reach a later season.
You should create a Spring covenant if you want a pioneer feel, with relatively young magi creating their own home from nothing. They may not be on a literal frontier, although they should be quite some distance from any other covenants to avoid immediate conflicts over resources.
In most cases, a Spring covenant already has basic buildings when the saga starts, and the magi have already created their own laboratories. Non-magi have been gathered, and the magi may even have been living in the covenant for a season or two.
However, it is perfectly possible to start with nothing but a Magic aura, and roleplay every stage of building the covenant. In some ways, this is a good way for new troupes to start, because there will be a lot of stories and not much laboratory work early on, which gives everyone a chance to become comfortable with the rules step by step. On the other hand, more experienced troupes who want to get straight into laboratory work might find that frustrating.
A Spring covenant could also be founded in the ruins of an older, failed covenant. This provides a good source of stories right on the covenant's doorstep, along with the chance of finding Hermetic resources as treasure (something that otherwise tends to be implausible).
Finally, a Spring covenant could refer to the state of mind of new, young members of a Winter covenant. The covenant has decayed so far that it isn't really a matter of reinvigorating it, the characters are effectively starting again. Much like the ruin, this provides the opportunity to find Hermetic resources lost within the covenant structure, and this is a perfect opportunity to have a beta storyguide run all the "covenant stories."
Vernus
The covenant of Vernus is a Spring covenant, just starting out in the world. It is a weak covenant (see the "Base Covenant Resources" insert), and is Struggling (see Covenant Situations).
At the moment, the covenant consists of a number of tents pitched around a standing stone, in a clearing in the middle of a faerie forest. The stone and clearing exist in a magical regio (see Regiones), although there are several ways to get into it. The base level has a magic aura of 2, and the covenant itself is located on a level with an aura of 5. The magi hope that there are higher levels, where they will be able to put their laboratories, but they haven't found them yet.
The main concern for the covenant is mundane resources. They don't even have a regular supply of food, and the current plan is to cut a new village out of the forest, and fill it with peasants who will farm for the magi. Various schemes for getting mundane income, such as growing grapes, finding a silver mine, or pretending to find a silver mine and just creating silver, are all under consideration.
The covenant's only vis source is contested, with the faeries who guard it. The nature of the contest varies from year to year, and is never simple combat. The best thing to do is take a wide variety of characters, so that they will be able to handle whatever the faeries decide to throw at them.
Summer
Summer covenants are firmly established, and still growing. The length of a covenant's Summer determines its ultimate power, and has a strong influence on the length of time for which it endures.
A Summer covenant is still growing, but the player characters do not have to worry about establishing it. In addition, they are probably not the oldest members of the covenant, so they do have local older magi to turn to for advice and assistance, if necessary. This makes a Summer covenant an excellent choice if your troupe consists of one or two experienced Ars Magica players and several newcomers. The experienced players can share the job of storyguide for the covenant, and thus provide in-character advice and guidance as the elder magi.
On the other hand, Summer covenants are not normally so organized that the older magi can give orders to the younger magi. Thus, the player characters are generally free to follow their own plots.
Aestas
Aestas is a Summer covenant. It is of medium power, and has become the Mundane Lord of the local village.
The covenant itself is a large castle, although the fortifications are not as up-to-date as they might be. Each magus lives in a separate tower in the curtain walls, while the central keep holds the library, council chamber, and dining hall. The covenfolk live in buildings built both inside and outside the curtain walls, and at the moment a lot of the covenant supplies are kept outside the walls, which rather lessens their value.
The magi have chosen one of their number, a magus with the Gentle Gift, to serve as their liaison with the outside world, and he has been forced to become good at politics. So far that covenant has managed to put off the need to swear fealty to any mundane by bartering favors and threats for a little more neutrality, but it is extremely unlikely that they will be able to put this off forever. They are thus trying to get a "tame" noble who can accept the covenant's fealty but won't try to actually exercise his rights.
Aestas keeps a very low profile in Hermetic politics, and is always helpful and generous to visiting magi. They use their wealth to provide extremely good hospitality to Redcaps, and other magi are welcome to stay and study in their library. They even allow magi to copy books, for a small fee. As a result, most magi think that they are harmless and well-meaning, and as long as they avoid major interference with mundane politics they think the Quaesitores will leave them alone.
Autumn
An Autumn covenant is living off past glories, but has yet to go seriously into decline. The most powerful covenants in the Order are in Autumn, as the Autumn that follows a long and vigorous Summer can last for centuries.
There are, essentially, two ways to play an Autumn covenant. In one, the player characters are young members of the covenant, and have to work with the elder magi. In the other, player characters themselves are the elder magi.
Playing junior magi is a good option for players who like the idea of the game, but have no idea what their characters would do, as long as the storyguide does have ideas. The senior magi can send the player characters to accomplish certain tasks, and as they succeed and prove themselves they will naturally be granted more independence, so that as the players reach the point of wanting to follow their own projects, their characters have the freedom to do so.
Playing elder magi is only for experienced players, if only because the first step is creating elder magi, and that requires you to be familiar with the magic rules. It makes for a very different saga style, as the magi are extremely powerful. See the Stories chapter for suggestions.
Autumn covenants can be at various stages of their Autumn. A covenant just out of Summer would be vigorous, but turning more and more to conserving what it has rather than expanding. A covenant in the heart of Autumn would be focused on conservation, and doing a good job of it. As Winter approaches, conservation becomes less effective, but the members of the covenant are reluctant to strike out into new ways of doing things. At any stage, there might be some large threat at the heart of the covenant that could tip it instantly into Winter if uncontained, or some promise that could put the covenant back in Summer if it was understood. Both are possible, and both could even be the same thing.
Autumnus
Autumnus is a powerful Autumn covenant; a powerful covenant (Base Covenant Resources) with Autumn power (Covenant Situations).
The physical structure is a single enormous building, covering the whole of a mountain peak and kept warm and habitable by magic. The entrances to the building are protected with magic as well as solid mundane doors, and the need to climb a mountain first makes a serious attack very difficult indeed. Inside, the halls and corridors are opulent, with minor enchanted devices all over the place.
There are over a dozen magi in the covenant, and the oldest four form a ruling council. They are the only magi with unrestricted access to the covenant's resources, and the most junior magi must obey orders from the council if they wish to retain their membership. The council is still composed of relatively wise magi (that is, relative to most magi …), however, so the orders are not onerous, and are for the covenant's good. Magi are still keen to join, as the resources available to even the youngest members are amazing.
Autumnus has another, much smaller, covenant in a different Tribunal under its protection. Young magi are often given the job of going to help this covenant, which is occasionally awkward, as they are younger than the older magi at the other place. However, having solid contacts in another Tribunal is politically extremely useful, as another strong Autumn covenant is a major rival. The origins of the rivalry are embroidered whenever they are told, but basically the Tribunal isn't big enough for two covenants of this power; they found themselves constantly stepping on each other's toes. The struggle has stayed within the Code so far, but if one side starts to clearly lose, it may not stay there.
Winter
Winter covenants are in decline, and on their way to oblivion. They are normally filled with old and peculiar magi, with little interest in recruiting new blood. However, sometimes new recruits are brought in, and the covenant moves round to Spring once more.
Pulling a Winter covenant through to Spring is a good saga concept for players who want the freedom of the Spring saga, but also want to be living somewhere with history, lost books, and whole towers where no one has set foot in years. The difference from a Spring saga set in a Winter covenant is mainly that the player characters have to deal with the old inhabitants; magi who are far older and more powerful than they are, but who are interested only in their own bizarre research.
Experienced players might also want to play the old magi in a Winter covenant, concentrating on their own interests as the covenant slowly crumbles around them.
Hiems
Hiems is a Winter covenant. It is of medium power, and Winter Ruins. The covenant now has only six magi, whereas once it had over a dozen, and the number of covenfolk has shrunk by an even greater factor. As a result, the complex of caves, tunnels, and towers covering most of a magical forest is largely uninhabited. The routes between the residences of the remaining magi and the central facilities (library, council room, kitchens) are well-maintained, but there are other areas that no one has entered for years.
One of the old laboratories was in the lair of a dragon, and it seems that the dragon, or at least a dragon, has come back. The covenfolk have reported seeing it, and some have simply disappeared while traveling from one part of the covenant to another. Such disappearances are also attributed to the dragon.
Hiems, in its prime, had many vis sources, but now it hardly has the resources to harvest them all, and other covenants are trying to move in. Hiems has to contest the other covenants for the rights to use the sources, and it isn't clear how much longer they will continue to win.
Still, the covenant had more resources once, and many of them are likely to still be somewhere in the ruins. New magi could turn it back into the power it once was, or simply provide food for the dragon.
Aegis of the HearthThe spell Aegis of the Hearth is one of the most important spells in the Order of Hermes. While Parma Magica gives individuals magic resistance, Aegis of the Hearth (often just "the Aegis") gives it to a whole covenant. The number of Hermetic covenants with no Aegis at all can most likely be counted on the fingers of one hand, and most covenants want to have the strongest Aegis that they can manage. Thus, if none of the player characters start knowing the spell, you should include it in the covenant library, and make learning it a high priority for someone. Just make sure that you choose a level that a member of the covenant can learn and cast. Note that if the covenant includes magi who are older than the player characters, the player characters need not be able to cast it. |
Covenant SituationsThe situation of a covenant is largely independent of its season and power. A more powerful covenant simply has more resources available to deal with its situation. There are some exceptions, of course. A powerful covenant cannot really be struggling, for example. The following suggestions are nothing more than that; if your troupe wants a different situation, you can create one. These situations are built out of Boons and Hooks, which are described in detail in Hooks and Boons, and you can use them in the same way to build your own situations. The rules for this are given in Customized Covenant Creation. Autumn PowerThe covenant is a strong Autumn covenant, a position that brings its own problems in the form of rivals, political involvement, and hierarchy. Hooks: Politics (Minor), Protector (Minor), Rival (Major), Superiors (Major) Boons: Aura (Minor), Buildings (Minor) x2, Fortification (Major), Prestige (Minor), Wealth Mundane LordThe covenant has become the lord of a number of mundanes. This may be in direct breach of the Code, so the members likely spend a lot of time making sure that the Quaesitores never become too interested in their activities. Hooks: Politics (Major), Protector (Minor), Road (Minor) Boons: Aura (Minor), Fortification (Major), Wealth (Minor) Powerful LocationThe covenant is located in a place of great magical power. In many ways this is helpful, but it brings its own problems. Hooks: Monster (Minor) x2, Regio (Major) Boons: Aura (Minor) x5. (The covenfolk must live within this aura, so almost all suffer from warping. See Warping.) StrugglingThe covenant has few resources, and some enemies, and has to work hard just to survive. Stories are likely to concern very mundane issues, such as food supplies, at least until the crisis is resolved. Hooks: Poverty (Major), Contested Resource (Minor) Boons: Aura (Minor) x2, Regio (Minor), Seclusion (Minor) UrbanThe covenant is hidden in a regio in a city. While this makes reaching a market easy, it brings its own problems. Hooks: Urban (Major) Boons: Aura (Minor), Regio (Minor), Wealth (Minor) Winter RuinsThe covenant is in part of the structure of a Winter covenant. It may be the current state of the old covenant, or a refoundation. The contents of the ruins are a major concern to the characters. Hooks: Contested Resource (Minor) (x3), Monster (Major), Poverty (Minor) Boons: Aura (Minor) x2, Building (Minor) x2, Hidden Resources (Minor) x3 |
Customized Covenant Creation
The covenant should be created by the whole troupe, working together. The first step is to create a solid covenant concept, before picking the numbers to fill it out. In covenant creation, the troupe can simply choose how powerful the covenant is, so such things need to be decided in advance.
Baseline
The base for covenant creation is a stone building with enough room to accommodate the magi and other covenfolk, located in a level 3 magic aura. The covenant has no magical resources, but has sufficient mundane resources to ensure that the magi do not have to worry about day-to-day upkeep. There is about one grog (fighter) per magus, and there are about two other covenfolk, such as servants and craftsmen, per magus. The available craftsmen include a blacksmith, carpenter, and maybe a bookbinder, but more exotic specialists are not present. While the covenant is hard to get into, it could not withstand a serious military assault without the use of magic. The Aging Modifier for a basic covenant is 0.
The covenant could be an isolated tower on a hill, a group of buildings in a clearing in forest, a complex of caves, or any number of other things. At any rate, it is somewhat removed from mundane society.
Accessible Power Level
The first choice is the level of power within the covenant that is accessible to the player character magi. This is a simple choice, depending on the sort of saga the players want. Novice players should start with a medium or low power level.
Maximum Level: The highest level of a single Lab Text or a single effect in an enchanted device. In the case of a device, the level includes all modifications (see "Magical Enchantments" for more details).
Minimum Age: The minimum number of years that have passed since the foundation of the covenant.
Note that this is the power that the player magi can access at will. An autumn covenant with a strict hierarchy might only have a low level of accessible power, because the player magi are not allowed to use most of the resources.
Accessible Power Levels
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Resources
Resources are very important to magi, as they determine how quickly they can learn and improve their Arts and other magical abilities. See the descriptions of books, Lab Texts, the uses of vis in the Hermetic Magic, Laboratory, and Long-term events. Enchanted items are described under "Magical Enchantments".
Library
The library is probably the most important resource in most covenants. Unlike vis, books can be studied over and over again, being used by all the members of the covenant. Rules for books can be found in the books section; there are two types, summae, which can be studied multiple times, and tractatus, which can be studied only once. Summae have a level, and once a character's level in the subject of the book exceeds that level, the book is no longer of any use. Tractatus can be used by characters at any level. The quality of a book is a measure of how good it is; higher is better.
Art Summae: Add level and quality together. Each summa costs one Build Point per point in the total. The level must not exceed 20; higher level summae can only be obtained through play. The quality must not exceed 11 plus 1 for every point below 20 of the level, and must not exceed 22 in any case.
| Art Summa Cost | Level + Quality |
| Art Summa Level Limit | 20 |
| Art Summa Quality Limit | 11 + (20 – Level), or 22, whichever is lower |
Ability Summae: Add three times level and quality together, and each summa costs one Build Point per point in the total. The level must not exceed 8. The quality must not exceed 11 plus 3 for every point below 8 of the level, and must not exceed 22 in any case.
| Ability Summa Cost | Quality + 3 x Level |
| Ability Summa Level Limit | 8 |
| Ability Summa Quality Limit | 11 + 3 x (8 – level), or 22, whichever is lower |
Tractatus: A tractatus in either Arts or Abilities costs one Build Point per point of quality. The quality may not exceed 11.
| Tractatus Cost | Quality |
| Tractatus Quality Limit | 11 |
Lab Texts
Lab Texts allow magi to research magical creations much more quickly than they could without assistance. By far the most common form of Lab Text is the Lab Text for inventing a formulaic spell, and most covenants have many levels of such Lab Texts in their libraries. Five levels of Lab Texts cost one Build Point. See the Accessible Power Levels table above for the maximum level of Lab Text possible.
| Lab Text Cost | 1 Build Point per five levels |
Vis
Vis sources, which provide vis every year, are extremely valuable resources for a covenant. Vis stocks are also useful, and most covenants try to have some in store for emergencies. See the sections on raw vis and vis sources for more information.
Vis Sources: Vis sources cost five Build Points for every pawn of vis available each year.
| Vis Sources Cost | 5 Build Points per pawn of vis per year |
Vis Stocks: Vis stocks cost one Build Point per five pawns of vis in store. Once vis stocks are used, they are gone until the characters can find, in play, more vis.
| Vis Stocks Cost | 1 Build Point per 5 pawns of vis |
Enchanted Items
An enchanted item costs two Build Points for every five levels of effect. See the Accessible Power Levels table for the maximum level of any individual effect.
| Enchanted Item Cost | 2 Build Points per five levels of effect |
Specialists
Specialists are non-magus NPC members of the covenant with useful skills. They are defined only by the abilities they use to serve the covenant, rather than by a full character sheet, and can include guards as well as teachers and craftsmen. Characters created as grogs or companions need not be paid for with Build Points.
Teachers: A teacher bought with Build Points is employed by the covenant, and available to teach as directed by the magi two seasons per year. The cost is the sum of his Communication and Teaching total and his highest score in the Abilities he will teach. Teachers cannot have The Gift, and thus cannot teach the Hermetic Arts. They may have other Supernatural Abilities, however. His Abilities are limited by his age, as for newly created characters (see Abilities).
| Teacher Cost | Communication + Teaching + Highest Ability Score |
| Score (Teacher) Limit | By age (see Abilities) |
Others: Other kinds of specialist are less expensive, costing a number of Build Points equal to their highest score in the Abilities they use to serve the covenant. Their Ability scores are initially limited by age, as for teachers.
| Specialist Cost | Highest Ability Score |
| Score (Specialist) Limit | By age (see Abilities) |
Base Covenant ResourcesThe following three sets of covenant resources are provided as examples. If you want to save time, just pick one for your covenant. The Customized Covenant Creation rules allow you to tailor the covenant more precisely to your needs, but it does take longer. The Arts and Abilities covered by the books, spells available as Lab Texts, and types of vis available should be chosen based on the interests of the player character magi. Weak CovenantLibrary: Three Art summae (level 15 quality 12, level 12 quality 12, and level 6 quality 21), one Ability summa (level 4 quality 10), and four tractatus (qualities 11, 10, 10, and 9), on either Arts or Abilities. Lab Texts: Lab Texts for 200 levels of spells, none over level 25. Vis: 1 or more sources, providing a total of 4 pawns per year. No stocks. 200 Build Points spent. This is suitable for a Spring covenant, or for the resources accessible in a Winter covenant. Medium CovenantLibrary: Eight Art summae (three at level 16, quality 15, five at level 6, quality 21), three Ability summae (one at level 5, quality 20, and two at level 6, quality 15), and seven tractatus on either Arts or Abilities (two quality 11, four quality 10, and one quality 9) Lab Texts: Lab Texts for 1,000 levels of spells, none over level 40. Vis: At least three sources, each providing a different Art, yielding a total of 20 pawns per year. Vis stocks of 100 pawns, spread between Arts as desired. The stocks may all be of a single Art. Enchanted Items: 200 levels of enchanted items, with a highest level effect of 40. At least 100 levels should be spent on lesser enchanted devices with an effect level of 20 or lower. 800 Build Points spent. This is suitable for a covenant in early Summer, or for the resources immediately available to young magi in an Autumn covenant. Powerful CovenantLibrary: Seventeen Art summae, at least one in each Art (one at level 20, quality 11; one at level 18, quality 13; five at level 16, quality 15; ten at level 6, quality 21), six Ability summae (three at level 6, quality 17, and three at level 5, quality 20), and thirty tractatus (12 quality 11, 9 quality 10, 9 quality 9), on either Arts or Abilities. Lab Texts: Lab Texts for 2,500 levels of spells, with no upper limit on the level of individual spells. Vis: At least five sources, each providing a different Art, yielding a total of 50 pawns per year. Vis stocks of 250 pawns, divided freely between the Arts. Enchanted Items: 500 levels of enchanted items. At least one should have an effect level over 30, and at least 100 levels should be spent on lesser enchanted devices with an effect level of 20 or lower. 2000 Build Points spent. This is suitable for a covenant in high Summer, the total resources of a relatively weak Autumn covenant, or the resources available to young magi in a very powerful Autumn covenant. |
Hooks
Hooks are features of the covenant that lead to stories. Hooks can be major or minor, just as character Flaws are. However, there are no Hooks that simply weaken the covenant; they're all concerned with story ideas. A covenant may have as many Hooks as the players want. Hooks don't provide Build Points, generally. Instead, they allow players to take Boons for the covenant. A major Hook provides three points to spend on Boons, while a minor Hook gives one.
The Hooks listed below are merely examples. A Hook can be anything that the troupe thinks will make the saga more interesting.
Unknown
An Unknown Hook is taken on by one of the players, who acts as storyguide for that aspect of the saga. Other players have no idea what stories this Hook will generate. This must be something the characters could realistically be unaware of.
The player who will storyguide the Hook chooses a minor Hook to be the unknown Hook, but this counts as a major Hook for the purposes of balancing Boons.
Note that, if you do not want to play troupe style, Unknown Hooks are inappropriate.
Beholden
Minor: The covenant owes favors to someone or something, possibly another covenant, or possibly a mundane lord, bishop, or mystical creature. This person cannot give the covenant orders, but the covenant is really obliged to help if they are in difficulties.
Major: The external party can give the covenant orders, although the covenant gets to decide on the best way to carry them out. This Hook could be Unknown, if the obligations were incurred by other members of the covenant who have neglected to tell the player characters.
Contested Resource
Minor: Access to one of the covenant's accessible resources is contested with someone, or something, else. Thus, getting the resource requires a story. As a rule, one story means that the resource is available for five years. The resource in question should be of sufficient importance that the magi will want to bother with the story.
There is no Major version of this Hook, but it may be taken multiple times to cover multiple resources.
This Hook may be Unknown when the saga starts, and only become known when the first contest comes due.
Monster
Minor: A powerful mystical creature lives near the covenant. The creature can be aligned with any realm, and should be too powerful for the player characters to defeat at the beginning of the campaign.
Major: The powerful mystical creature lives inside the covenant.
Politics
Minor: The covenant is deeply involved in Hermetic politics.
Major: The covenant is deeply involved in mundane politics, and must keep the Quaesitores from becoming too interested.
This Hook cannot be Unknown.
Poverty
Minor: The covenant has enough mundane resources for day to day matters, but resources for major expenses require a story.
Major: The covenant has no mundane resources to speak of, and even providing daily food requires stories. Note that this will set the tone of at least the beginning of the saga.
This Hook can be Unknown, but probably not for very long.
Protector
Minor: The covenant is responsible for protecting something, such as a village, a magical grove, or another, weaker, covenant.
This Hook can't be Unknown. It may be taken more than once, to represent multiple protectorates.
Regio
Minor: There is a regio on the covenant site, although the covenant is not in it. The magi do not know everything that is in the regio.
Major: The regio has inhabitants who occasionally come out and cause trouble of some sort for the magi.
If the regio is not a Magical regio, being Divine, Faerie, or Infernal, that counts as an additional minor Hook. This Hook can be taken if the covenant is in a regio; in that case, it simply refers to a second regio.
Rival
Minor: Someone or some group is working to undermine or stymie the covenant. This rival may be much weaker than the covenant, as long as he is capable of causing problems worthy of stories.
Major: Someone or some group is working to destroy the covenant, and has the resources for this to be possible. Thus, the rival must be of comparable power to the covenant.
Road
Minor: The covenant is on an important mundane road, river, or sea route, so that people often turn up at the covenant, bringing or causing stories.
Major: The covenant is on an important mystical trail of some kind, so that mystical creatures, from one or more realms, often turn up at the covenant.
The major version of this Hook can be Unknown, though only until the first creature turns up. The minor version can't be Unknown.
Superiors
Minor: The player characters are not in charge of the covenant, and while their superiors cannot order them about the player characters do not have control of covenant resources.
Major: The player characters can be given orders by the ranking members of the covenant, which they must obey.
This Hook cannot be Unknown.
Urban
Minor: The covenant is in a small market town. Many of the inhabitants aren' part of the covenant, and the covenant doesn' rule the town.
Major: The covenant is in a city. The vast majority of the inhabitants are not part of the covenant, and the covenant does not rule the city.
This Hook cannot be Unknown.
Boons
Boons are things that make the covenant better. Each minor Boon costs one point, while a major Boon costs three; they must be paid for with Hooks. They can't be bought with Build Points.
Aura
Minor: A minor Boon increases the magic aura of the covenant by one point. The players may take this Boon up to seven times, for a covenant in any magic aura up to ten. All the covenfolk must live within the aura.
Major: A major Boon increases the aura of a limited area of the covenant by one point. It is only worth taking this if the aura of the whole covenant is already 5, as this then allows the covenfolk to live and work mostly outside the level 6 (or higher) aura, and thus avoid Warping.
Buildings
Minor: The covenant has an additional large and important building, such as a tower, gatehouse, or independent library. This Boon may be taken multiple times, as a new structure every time.
Fortification
Minor: The covenant is somewhat fortified, with a stone wall or a very sturdy central building. It could hold off a mundane assault by mundane means, although it could not withstand a siege.
Major: The covenant is heavily fortified, and could withstand a siege or a magicallyassisted assault. This may mean that it is a large castle, or that the mundane defenses have extensive magical assistance, or both.
Hidden Resources
Minor: The covenant has 250 Build Points of resources that are not immediately available to the player characters. These might actually be lost within the covenant, or be sections of the library that are only open to more highly-ranked magi. This Boon may be taken multiple times.
Prestige
Minor: The covenant, and its members, are well-regarded. This may be as a result of previous actions, such as defeating a monster, or because of continuing features of the covenant, such as a superb library. The covenant has a Reptuation score of 3 (see Reputations).
Major: The covenant is famous. Its members are well-treated, as far as the Gift permits, and people are reluctant to cross the covenant openly. Within the Order, this would apply to Domus Magnae, or to the oldest and most powerful covenants. A covenant that repeatedly aided and defended its mundane neighbors could get such a reputation in the mundane world, although that level of activity would draw the attention of the Quaesitores. The covenant has a Reputation score of 9 (see Reputations).
This Boon may be taken several times, with the prestige applying to a different group each time. As with Reputations, Prestige may be local, Hermetic, or ecclesiastical, and other types may exist at the troupe's discretion. For example, the covenant may be famous among faeries.
Regio
Minor: The covenant is located in a magical regio that can be entered several ways.
Major: The covenant is located in a magical regio which can only be entered if people are guided by a native.
Seclusion
Minor: The covenant is in a very remote location, and very rarely gets visitors. This Boon cannot be taken in conjunction with the Road or Urban Hooks, and may be inappropriate for other Hooks. Redcaps still come to the covenant; this Boon restricts the number of random visitors.
Wealth
Minor: The covenant has effectively unlimited mundane resources. The magi can live in luxury, as can most of the covenfolk.
The Covenant in Play
Covenants do not gain Build Points while they are being played. Instead, the characters create enchanted devices, write books, and trade for further resources.
Events in play may lead to the covenant gaining or losing Boons or Hooks.
If a Boon is lost, the characters should be given story opportunities to regain it. In effect, the lost Boon becomes a Hook.
If a Boon is gained, the covenant should get a corresponding Hook, representing the reaction of the rest of the world to its change in fortunes.
If a Hook is lost, because the situation is resolved, that is fine, and part of the natural growth of the saga.
If a Hook is gained, again, that is fine.
Not all Hooks can be removed, but if a particular Hook can be overcome it should take at least half a dozen stories for a minor Hook, and around twenty for a major one. Hooks are supposed to drive a significant portion of the saga, so they shouldn't be resolved until they've done so.
Attribution
Based on the material for Ars Magica, ©1993-2024, licensed by Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games®, under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license 4.0 ("CC-BY-SA 4.0). Ars Magica Open License Logo ©2024 Trident, Inc. The Ars Magica Open License Logo, Ars Magica, and Mythic Europe are trademarks of Trident, Inc., and are used with permission. Order of Hermes, Tremere, Doissetep, and Grimgroth are trademarks of Paradox Interactive AB and are used with permission.