Rating: 
Summary: The final stage in RPG evolution is here.
Review: A grand game for the true hardcore roleplayers. Ars is a system once owned by White Wolf, and one can draw many comparisons between the two, that has only gotten better in the two editions between. You play three characters at once and each is quite detailed. The magic system is the ultimate in imagination and personalization and the combat system is realistic,deadly, and exciting. You need no supplements to have a great time but each adds more detail. Pick it up and get lost in Mythic Europe.
Rating: 
Summary: Curse of chronos
Review: A quirk of many Ars Magica players is that they have a particular edition they value above all others: mine was third edition: to my mind, it was the apex of the games origionality. At its best, Ars Magica was an intensly colourfull game that gave modern players a filter through wich they could percive a fantastic medival world. It was a mix of judith tarr and prof. umberto eco, and propably the best thing mark rein . hagen ever made.
Unfortunately, the current owners of the game do not get all that. They seem to think that its supposed to be a "realistic" simulation of the middle ages: not that the middle ages are not intresting enough on their own, but that just wasnt the point of Ars Magica. Its name means "the Art of Magic", and it was supposed to focus on what was OUTSIDE the medival world: its cosmology was one never thought of in medival times. The main characters are outcast wizards, not, say, knights.
Also, i have a terrible suspicion that the current owners overuse of historical material is due to a lack of ideas of their own. Even the colours used in the game - books have become more grey.
One last thing: the rules have always been a bit heavy - going (even a simplified version of rolemaster can manage to be quite complex), but the basic dice system is easy and logical enough, so with a bit of practice a storyteller should be able to manage with a few general rolls. The fourth edition people should have kept most of them unchanged, i understand.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite RPG!
Review: Before Jonathan Tweet moved to Wizards of the Coast, and before Mark Rein-Hagen created the WW's World of Darkness -- they created Ars Magica. This is a wonderfully detailed, and realistic medieval roleplaying game. The magic system is the best there is! The fleshed-out combat system, and the fact that you play 3 characters from different social strata are also wonderful features. The first RPG to have troupe-style play, and it's quite a treat for gamers seeking substance. Minor complaint: I wish there were a few clear and concrete examples of the rules being used during play; in some places the text is dense and a bit hard to digest. But don't let this fool you, the rules are really quite simple -- the presentation just needs to be streamlined.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite RPG!
Review: Before Jonathan Tweet moved to Wizards of the Coast, and before Mark Rein-Hagen created the WW's World of Darkness -- they created Ars Magica. This is a wonderfully detailed, and realistic medieval roleplaying game. The magic system is the best there is! The fleshed-out combat system, and the fact that you play 3 characters from different social strata are also wonderful features. The first RPG to have troupe-style play, and it's quite a treat for gamers seeking substance. Minor complaint: I wish there were a few clear and concrete examples of the rules being used during play; in some places the text is dense and a bit hard to digest. But don't let this fool you, the rules are really quite simple -- the presentation just needs to be streamlined.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent RPG with incredibly well thought out magic rules.
Review: Highly recommended. Three levels of player character types, tons of customization tips, great setting (medieval europe where every superstition is actually true!) and simple but elegant combay system. Check it out.
Rating:
Summary: A simple and brillaint RPG
Review: My background is in Medieval History and the Arthurian legends. While I have enjoyed RPGs in general over the years, I have never really felt fulfilled by them. Ars Magica changed that.This is a grand game, not only in terms of system, but also in scope. You are not slogging around odd underground defense installations finding monsters sitting in room with a king's ransom in gems; instead, you are part of a community and your interests are first in foremost in the esoteric study of arcane lore and magic. Assuming you are a mage. The Companion and Custos (Grogs) have a slightly different take on life, but they are lower down the Great Chain of Being. This game assumes that in the Middle Ages the world was what people believed it was. Demons are real. God is above all else. Faeries are around every corner. Within this context, you, the player, are an anomaly -- a mage with great power, socially shunned (at best), but in the end subject to the world around you and the constraints placed on your magic. The system is elegant, requiring only 10-sided dice. The magic system is magesterial -- huge, flexible, yet limiting the lesser magi until they have a chance to learn. Most of all, the game puts you within a real world and makes you feel enmeshed in it. If you are looking for a truly fine RPG, this is it, hands down.
Rating:
Summary: A simple and brillaint RPG
Review: My background is in Medieval History and the Arthurian legends. While I have enjoyed RPGs in general over the years, I have never really felt fulfilled by them. Ars Magica changed that. This is a grand game, not only in terms of system, but also in scope. You are not slogging around odd underground defense installations finding monsters sitting in room with a king's ransom in gems; instead, you are part of a community and your interests are first in foremost in the esoteric study of arcane lore and magic. Assuming you are a mage. The Companion and Custos (Grogs) have a slightly different take on life, but they are lower down the Great Chain of Being. This game assumes that in the Middle Ages the world was what people believed it was. Demons are real. God is above all else. Faeries are around every corner. Within this context, you, the player, are an anomaly -- a mage with great power, socially shunned (at best), but in the end subject to the world around you and the constraints placed on your magic. The system is elegant, requiring only 10-sided dice. The magic system is magesterial -- huge, flexible, yet limiting the lesser magi until they have a chance to learn. Most of all, the game puts you within a real world and makes you feel enmeshed in it. If you are looking for a truly fine RPG, this is it, hands down.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best magic-based RPG systems out there.
Review: The one-line summary says it all. Magic comes in many forms, and this is perhaps one of the best ways to classify exactly what "magic" is and how it can be looked upon. Excellent attention to detail and a character system that allows you to fully flesh out your mages, grogs and companions allows for impressive RPGing.
Rating:
Summary: The perfect magic system for the hard-core gamer.
Review: This allows character creation that so perfectly let's you dedicate your character on exactly the type of magic you would see them doing in your mind's eye. Rather, than like other RPGs, put you in a class and assign your spells based on your class, this system offers some couple of hundred spells that are SKILL chosen. So If you picture yourself as the 'air mage' you can study magic forms of air, how to control it, create it, destroy it, etc. YOU choose. There are 10 elements: Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Body, Mind, Animal, Herbal, Illusions, Vim. To each type you can Control, Mutate, Understand, Create and Destroy. So, if you want Invisibility, 'Destroy Illusions' would erase your image. To lift a rock, 'Control Earth' would give you that sort of telekinetic power. 'Control Body' could allow you to fly, etc.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Roleplaying Magic Systems ever!
Review: This is one of the coolest roleplaying games I have ever played. I have played Traveller, Gurps, D&D, Twilight 2000 etc... This system is one of my favorite Magic systems ever. The game world is rich and the whole concept behind covenants and mundanes in mythic europe is an exciting one!
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