History TabletopGame / ArsMagica

* MagicIsMental: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]. The Intelligence stat boosts magical lab projects like inventing spells, representing the scholarly nature of magical practice. However, active spellcasting is boosted by Stamina instead, since it's a physical effort that can [[CastFromStamina inflict Fatigue levels]] if it's near the limit of the mage's capabilities.

* {{Familiar}}: All mages, bar House Bjornaer, can bond themselves to a magical animal as a familiar. Some can bond themselves to spirits and others can bond themselves to faeries. Bonding angels is supposed to be a legend. (Bonding demons is the definition of idiotic.) Whatever it is, a familiar is ''extremely'' useful; just by having one, you can reduce the odds of botching, resist aging, last longer under conditions of suffocation, drowning, or deprivation, and heal faster - and that's ''before'' you add on special powers in the lab.

** The cliche that "time is money" is well-understood by magi. The expectation of the Order of Hermes is that magi will want to spend as much time as possible in their laboratories studying new magic; hence, many covenants require that their members spend a season a year doing service to the covenant or pay scutage for the value of that season. Furthermore, many Quaesitorial fines are assessed in community service -- that is, seasons of service to the Order. Inversely, one Tribunal case convicted a Redcap of depriving a magus of power by injuring him, keeping him from working in the lab for a season - the crime wasn't the injury, it was the loss of time.

** The Envied Beauty story flaw from the Jerbiton section of 'House of Hermes: Societies', which is exactly what it sounds like — your beauty causes (sometimes murderous) envy in others.

* TeamSwitzerland: Redcaps are generally expected to not vote at Tribunal and generally stay out of Order politics, and in return, harming them is pretty much verboten. Likewise, Quaesitores generally don't vote, but this restriction is looser and their position is ''inherently'' politicized to some extent. In neither case is this a law, though - just a tradition.

* UtilityMagic: It’s a fair sign of an old, powerful covenant (wizard community) that they have a lot of this around the place. Magic is difficult and time-consuming enough that low-end wizards tend to feel they have better things to do with their time; they can always recruit grogs (mortal servants), and flaunting too much magic invites suspicion and persecution from the mundane world. Their elders, though, can toss off spells with relative ease, and may have accumulated quite a few utility items over the years through trade or as exercises in enchantment — and are generally either too powerful or too out of it to worry about persecution. So their homes tend to be full of weird and trivial wonders.

It was one of the first examples of a Troupe system: early editions recommended that the players collaborate to create the campaign world and story. Each player would have an opportunity to be the [[GameMaster Story Guide]], and each player would have more than one character, so that if they felt their main character would not go on an adventure (for example, if they were busy with their research) a secondary character may be used. The game was developed by Creator/JonathanTweet and Mark Rein·Hagen of ''[[TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness World of Darkness]]'' fame and if you look, you will find traces of ''Ars Magica'' in the Classic WOD -- particularly the Order of Hermes mages and the Tremere vampires. The magic system of ''Ars Magica'' is generic, based on a combination of Forms and Techniques (to create fire, you'd use the form Ignem for fire and the Technique Creo for create together) and very intuitive. It's also one of the few magic systems that allowed for spontaneous spellcasting, allowing the player to use magic off the top of their head to perform specific tasks, rather than limiting magical ability to a shopping list of immutable conditions and effects.

* AllMythsAreTrue: The same Divine power that protects the Christian Church from magic also protects Jews and Muslims. This, naturally, gives the Church fits.
** It's been pointed out in-universe that, since divination magic gives false information when used on demons, there's no magical way to work out which, if any, of that "Divine" power is actually being granted by the forces of hell to fool people.

* ClassicalTongue: Latin requires formal education to learn, but is the standard language of academic writing and instruction across Europe.

* DisciplinesOfMagic: The unified magic theory used by the [[MagicalSociety Order of Hermes]] (and the SpellConstruction rules) fails to explain a ''lot'' of older magical traditions, ranging from MagicMusic and RunicMagic to [[{{Animorphism}} skinchanging]] and [[ReligionIsMagic divine invocations]], each with its own [[SkillScoresAndPerks supernatural Virtue and related Ability]]. Learning more than one magical paradigm is extremely difficult, but some MysteryCult initiation rites facilitate it.

* EverybodyHatesHades: Underworld gods and spirits of the night are not necessarily evil or Infernal, but they and the Chthonic Magic associated with them does have a very negative and sinister aspect to it, reads as Unholy to divine sources and can be used to draw more effectively on infernal powers.

* AYearAndADay: House [[TheFairFolk Merinita]] magi have access to "a year+1" as a spell duration. This has the same difficulty as the standard "year" duration everyone can use, but lasts for exactly a year and a day as opposed to ending on the fourth equinox/solstice after its casting like a "year" spell does.

* AYearAndADay: Supplement ''Tales of the Dark Ages'', adventure "The Inheritance". A PlayerCharacter receives an inheritance of land and a title as a knight. The character has a year and a day to claim their inheritance. If they don't, it will go to the Catholic Church.

** The "Tormenting Master" flaw generally results in this. Once a year, your parents takes a two-week vacation, during which they devote one hundred percent of their free time to finding some way to ruin your life. Tytalus mages might as well have it tattooed across their backsides.

** The "Tormenting Master" flaw generally results in this. Once a year, your parens takes a two-week vacation, during which they devote one hundred percent of their free time to finding some way to ruin your life. Tytalus mages might as well have it tattooed across their backsides.

* ExactWords: House Tytalus mages are taught that conflict breeds growth. Often, this takes the form of physical conflict or social intrugue. Maris of Tytalus, however, has elected to battle the ocean itself.

* {{Familiar}}: All mages, bar House Bjornaer, can bond themselves to a magical animal as a familiar. Some can bond themselves to spirits and others can bond themselves to faeries. Bonding angels is supposed to be a legend. (Bonding demons is the definition of idiotic.) Whatever it is, a familiar is ''extremely'' useful; just by having one, you can reduce the odds of botching, resist aging, last longer under conditions of suffication, drowning, or deprivation, and heal faster - and that's ''before'' you add on special powers in the lab.

* LayeredWorld: In addition to the mundane material world, there are four other planes of existence known as Realms of Power. Each superantural power or creature is associated with one Realm. Each realm interacts with the others in unique ways. In alphabetical order:

* MagicalSociety: The Order of Hermes is the main one in the game, including the most powerful and numerous of magic users in Mythic Europe. Within the Order itself are several more distinct magtical societies, including the houses of the Order (listed above), mystery cults (four of which are also houses), leagues, and various individual magical traditions. There are still societies of magical traditions that exist outside the Order as well, some in Mythic Europe and some without. Likely the largest of these is the Order of Suleiman in the Mythic Middle East (which is roughly five times the size of the Order of Hermes, though its individual magicians are weaker). Some magical societies have members both within and without of the Order of Hermes, but these tend to be relatively small groups.

** 4th edition supplement ''The Wizard's Grimoire''. When the spell "Eyes of Eternity" is cast, the target ages one year per 15 seconds (four years per minute) for as long as the spellcaster concnetrates on the spell.

* WizardDuel: It's considered lower-class and embarassing to simply hurl curses at a mage you're angry with (unless you're House Flambeau, in which class it's considered standard practice). The socially-accepted way to deal with such issues is to challenge the offending party to certamen, a form of standarized magical combat where the two parties involved attempt to magically knock each other unconscious.

* SpecialSnowflakeSyndrome: There are multiple books full of possible magical characters who are not Hermetic magi and have unique abilities. However, this is partly curbed by the general supremacy of the Hermetic Arts.

* AttackFailureChance: As with all actions, spellcasting under stressful circumstances has a 1-10% chance of a CriticalFailure, depending on aggravating and mitigating factors. The effects are open to the GameMaster's interpretation based on how badly the dice roll was botched, but the spell might go off-target, have the opposite of its intended effect, invite DemonicPossession, or complicate the magus's day in some other exciting manner.

* MagicCompass: 4th edition supplement ''The Wizard's Grimoire''. One of the magic items in the work is Maris' Golden Compass. It can point to the nearest dry land, the nearest fresh water, and the nearest ship.
* MedievalUniversalLiteracy: Mythic Europe is an aversion. Literacy requires some training in ''artes liberales'', an academic [[SkillScoresAndPerks ability]] that most people aren't eligible for. Magi and many of their Companions have a significant advantage in their access to this training. %% (This is an "aversions and inversions only" trope.)

* MagicKnight: Possible, but generally ineffective for Hermetic magi; against mundanes and non-Hermetic wizards, it's far more effective to just [[KillItWithFire Kill Them With Fire]], and the Parma is just as resistant to magically-sharpened steel as it is to explosives. The school of Ramius accepts these limitations and instead develops spells to defend the magus and improve ''his'' capabilities, as well as focusing on a strong Parma Magica; the Ramian magus himself attacks with steel alone, rather than magic.
* MagicalGesture: Though not strictly necessary for most practitioners of hermetic magic, there is a penalty for not using gestures or using only subtle gestures. Certain virtues remove this penalty for in specific cases or outright.

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'''''Ars Magica''''' is a TabletopRolePlayingGame set in Mythic Europe, a quasi-historical version of Europe around AD 1200 with added fantastical elements. It typically centers on the lives of Magi, powerful wizards belonging to the Order of Hermes, and the various [[{{Muggles}} mundane]] folk in their lives. While several details about the world change, sometimes drastically, from edition to edition, the same basic premise applies: the Order is a secret society in a world that believes in magic, founded by the apprentice of a wizard who first developed a unified magic theory and a general defense against magic, the Parma Magica. There are twelve Houses (with a missing thirteenth), each focusing on a particular area of study that the House founder excelled in originally. As of 5th Edition, each of the Houses is also grouped into one of three structures: True Lineages (members must be able to trace their MasterApprenticeChain back to the House's founder), {{Mystery Cult}}s (members must be initiated into the House via special rites), and Societates (anyone who shares the House's ideology may join). The Houses are as follows:

* HumanDemonHybrid: Demons can procreate with humans through deliberate effort, a rare choice they only make to further an infernal plot. The child has Infernal Might and innate magic, [[EatingOptional doesn't need food or water]], and can gain even more powers, but has a human soul and free will.

* MedievalUniversalLiteracy: Mythic Europe is an aversion. Literacy requires some training in the ''artes liberales'' [[SkillScoresAndPerks ability]], which, as an academic skill, most people aren't eligible for. Magi and many of their Companions have a significant advantage in their access to this training. %% (This is an "aversions and inversions only" trope.)

* MagicallyBindingContract: A common element of [[TheFairFolk faerie]] magic, with dire consequences for those who break their word. Also a method of binding djinn to a sahir's service.

** Bonisagus codified a unified theory of magic when he founded the [[MagicalSociety Order of Hermes]], which became the standard for magical instruction in the Western world. However, his research overlooked many older traditions, including various hedge magics, Norse rune magic, Canaanite {{Necromanc|er}}y, and even the lost [[IKnowYourTrueName language of Adam]], which are less versatile but can accomplish results that Hermetic theory thinks impossible.

* RunicMagic: Norse rune magic is OldMagic that predates the [[MagicalSociety Order of Hermes']] unified magic system. While less flexible than Hermetic magic, it can create enchantments that last [[NoOntologicalInertia as long as the rune does]] without some of the usual ItemCrafting requirements, making it a tempting prize for any [[FantasticScience magical research]] to try to integrate into Hermetic theory.

* StaminaBurn: A mage can use a ''Perdo Corpus'' spell to inflict Fatigue levels, which cause escalating penalties to the target's actions and can ultimately knock them out for hours. It's especially nasty against other mages, since spellcasting often [[CastFromStamina has a cost in Fatigue]].

* ConsummateLiar: Demons are by nature creatures of deception, and thus they're very good at lying. They're so good at it, in fact, that one of the limitations of Hermetic magic is that it cannot force demons to speak the truth.

** The Code of Hermes forbids any dealing with demons whatsoever, on pain of death. This applied even when one mage and a demon agreed to leave each other alone: the Order takes no chances with creatures that are immortal, [[MadeOfEvil intrinsically depraved]], and [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder compulsively treacherous]].

* HorribleHousing: Characters' living conditions affect their aging dice rolls. Once they hit middle age, people in bad housing are more likely to get sick, suffer permanent losses to their game statistics, and die early.

** People with no magical talent can train in the Magic Theory ability, although even the sourcebook warns that it's of minimal value to non-mages. It does, however, make them valuable lab assistants to mages, since their skill scores boost the mage's lab total.

* NeverLearnedToTalk: Characters with the [[SkillScoresAndPerks flaw]] "[[WildChild Feral Upbringing]]" start without Language skills or any other knowledge of human society.

** The most powerful divine magic of all is found in a fairly minor religion off in the East. The Mazdeans (or Zoroastrians) are a minority group in Mesopotamia and Persia, but their mobeds are descendants (theoretically or factually) of the magoi priests of ancient Persia, and they were mighty wizards well before Bonisagus was ever born. Since [[AfterTheEnd the fall of the Sassanid Empire]], nearly all of their greatest magics have [[LostTechnology been lost]], but what they have is still highly impressive. They are masters of UsefulNotes/{{Alchemy}} and [[StarPower astrology]], capable of calling angels and [[KillItWithFire destroying evil with flame]], and their greatest priests [[LongLived live much longer than even Hermetic magi]]. A mobed in full possession of the magic of his tradition would be a match for a Hermetic magus, but mobeds of that power mostly don't exist anymore. It's also notable that there are Zoroastrian sub-traditions within the Order of Hermes and the Order of Solomon, [[TheRedMage wielding Hermetic or Solomonic magic and some of the Zoroastrian power-set]].

* BeautyInversion: Aurulentus of Jerbiton, being an OverprotectiveDad, secretly used an illusion spell designed to make his daughters look less attractive when they brought boys home with them, in order to test whether they really ''were'' interested in personality over looks. At least, until his wife found out and told him to knock it off.

* OverprotectiveDad: Aurulentus of Jerbiton had the Obsessed Flaw, focused around the protection of his offspring (particularly his daughters). As such he invented a number of spells and enchanted items designed to weed out or discourage unfit suitors.

* BavarianFireDrill: