Books

This article is about rules for books in general. For information on specific books, see Books Index.

In Ars Magica, books see heavy use in the communication and study between magi. Books are usually written in Latin.^{[citation needed]}

Studying Books

To study books, characters must be able to read (which, in ArM5, requires a skill in Artes Liberales) and be fluent in the language, possessing a minimum skill of 4. Studying a book takes at least one season. Summae can potentially be studied for more than one season, depending on the Level of the book and the reader's skill in the Art or Ability the book is about.

Each type of book has different benefits, so please refer to the article on the appropriate book type for details on what characters can gain from the book.

Quality

The Quality of a book is its source quality (that is, number of experience points gained from studying it). Laboratory texts do not have Quality scores.

Level

The Level of a book is the highest Art or Ability score one can attain by studying it. In ArM5, only summae have a Level score, but in ArM4, libri questionem had a "target level," which is mechanically different.

Writing Books

Writing books has (in ArM5) stricter requirements than reading them: the character must have a minimum score of 5 in an Art, or 2 in an Ability, to write a book about it. The prospective writer must also have a score of 5 in the language in which the book will be written.

Writing a book takes one or more seasons, depending on the type of book. See the article on the appropriate book type for details.

Types of Books

Basic Book Types

Ars Magica Fifth Edition mentions three kinds of books in the core rules:

Summae

are books designed to teach a topic up to a certain level

Tractatus

contain an in-depth treatment of one aspect of a subject

Laboratory texts

contain sufficient notes on a laboratory project that the reader can quickly reproduce the results of that project

Fourth Edition included an additional book type, libri questionem.

Additional Book Types

Ars Magica supplements introduce a number of additional types of books:

Casting Tablet

Allows the reader to cast a spell from its text, without having to learn it

Correspondence

Letters between magi that function effectively as a tractatus.

Commentary

A tractatus written on the basis of an earlier work (in ArM4, the earlier book is probably an authority). Many tractatus would be written as commentaries, as this increases their Quality

Folio

A bound collection of tractatus and laboratory texts, published every 7 years by the Colentes Arcanorum

Specialized Books

Covenants includes rules for several kinds of specialized books, which are used for particular purposes and may have slightly different rules than regular books. Some examples include:

Branch

A masterful high-level Summa.

Root

A masterful low-level Summa.

Vain

A book written to below accepted levels of Quality.

Fine

A book written to accepted levels of Quality.

Exemplar

A book written to be copied from.

Juvenilia

A poor copy, typically by young magi.

Multi-Element Books

Covenants clarifies that the term book is any lengthy work magi may study, and may be split into sections and bound as several volumes. Contrariwise, several short books can be bound between a single set of covers. A codex is a single, physical tome. A single book is most commonly bound in a single codex, but an especially long book might be bound in several volumes, each a separate codex, or several related books might be bound into a single codex.

In common Ars Magica usage, book usually means a codex, just as it does in everyday speech. A "book" (codex) might therefore contain one or more summae, tractatus, etc. because one codex can contain several books. This article refers to the books within a codex as elements for clarity, though the official rule books don't use that term.

Folios were the first example of multi-element books introduced in ArM5 canon.

As an example of a multi-element book, a troupe might include the following in the covenant's library:

De arte venandi cum avibus (Tractatus on Hunt, Quality 9; Summa on Animal Handling Level 4, Quality 9; Summa on Magic Lore Level 2, Quality 9.) Written by Frederic II von Hohenstaufen, this is a masterful treatise on falconry and the art of the hunt, and contains a rich illustrated encyclopedia of the beasts (magical and mundae) of Mythic Europe.

Using this book, a reader might peruse the Hunt tractatus within this book for one season, and later spend another season reading the Animal Handling summa. Note that it is impossible for another reader to read the book while the character is using it, even if he is using another element of it. In-game, the book is usually a continuous whole, and the division into elements is only on the game-mechanics level, so that you can't rip-apart different sections of the book to serve as separate elements and stand-alone books.

When designing a covenant library, each element counts as a separate book for computing the codex's cost in build points.

While such complicated, multi-element books exist in canon, for simplicity, some sagas opt to maintain a one-book-one-element policy.

Expanded Book Rules

Covenants also includes extensive rules for adjusting the Quality of books based on many factors such as scribal skill, quality of illumination (illustration), and mystical resonances built into books on the Hermetic Arts.

In the post-Covenants setting, then, a book is characterized in many ways. The above book, for example, might be written down as follows:

De arte venandi cum avibus (Tractatus on Hunt, Quality 10; Summa on Animal Handling Level 4, Quality 10; Summa on Magic Lore Level 2, Quality 10. This book is wonderfully crafted and illustated (+3). Written with (Com +3), in Latin, the summas are Glossed (to Com +4). The Hunt tractatus serves as a Commentary on the Animal Handling summa (+1).) Written by Frederic II von Hohenstaufen, this is a masterful treatise on falconry and the art of the hunt, and contains a rich illustrated encyclopedia of the beasts (magical and mundane) of Mythic Europe.

The affect of all these expanded rules is that maximum, and therefore effective, Quality tends to increase slightly, as does the book-keeping complexity. However, this is balanced by a lower Quality for starting covenants and a richer, more flavorful, treatment of books.

Commentary on the Expanded Book Rules

Many in the Fan Community saw the expanded book rules as somewhat excessive, and introduce them only partially or with modifications to their sagas. The craftmanship rules insert extra book-keeping for very little return, as do the mutually-excluding gloss/commentary/florigelium options. The use of resonant materials seems extravagant and exceedingly expensive to some, and too easy for others. Only the poorest covenants would have cause to produce or purchase books using the lower-quality options such as using a palimpsest, so that this detail too seems redundant. Despite this, the expanded book rules provide a rich mix of options and ideas for those who want to use them.

Other Books and Options

Certain other rules expand on books, adding more options to writing them and new categories of books.

• Vulgar Alchemy allows magi to discover new Shape and Material bonuses. When writing a tractatus on Magic Theory, practitioners of this mystery may write about the new bonus, which allows other magi to read the tractatus and use it.
• Books can be used to disseminate the integration of Original Research, Ancient Magic, or Hedge Magic into Hermetic magic. Lab texts incorporating new ranges and durations which are minor breakthroughs, or fully integrated great breakthroughs, disseminate these discoveries to their readers. A new Ability due to a Major Breakthrough may be taught by a book on it.
• Houses of Hermes: True Lineages offers a new type of book, the Folio. This is a collection of Lab Texts and Tractatus, along with biographical notes and comments. Reading an element in the collection provides experience in Order of Hermes Lore as well the usual benefit.

See Also

• For related spells see Covenants 96-97, 99-100.
• An unofficial discussion of magically copying books.
• Books can also be used for Research. A related concept is Realia.
• For enchanting books, see TMRE 92.
• Any number of things can function effectively like a book. These include supernaturally-flavored libraries like ghosts or reflecting mirrors, and the Final Transmission of a Criamon magus.

Legacy Page

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