Everyone in the game hobby is probably aware of the Trump administration's tariffs (import taxes), even if it's hard to stay abreast of changes that happen almost every day. I wanted write a note to explain how this affects Ars Magica Definitive Edition, and hopefully provide some reassurance.

We can divide campaign rewards into four categories:

There is some chance that counter-tariffs could affect #3, but it seems unlikely given that most countries are aiming at specific American industries for maximum political impact. There are no tariffs to worry about for #2 and #4.

This leaves us with Definitive Edition itself. As we have said from the beginning, we anticipated split fulfillment because we thought it was likely that Definitive might need to ship separately from other items.

Some publishers are confident that the tariffs as written do not apply to books. This may mean that we're in the clear. Yay! Or maybe that's wrong, and we'll be subject to the current 145% tariff on imports from China. Or maybe there will be a different rate for books and printed materials. I'm not putting much effort into finding out because whatever it is TODAY, it may be completely different TOMORROW. (Check out the breaking news this weekend about off-again/on-again tariffs and semiconductors, for example.)

If you are a non-US backer, we probably will need to use a fulfillment method that never clears formal US customs entry, thus never is subject to the import tax. We may do this by using a non-US fulfillment partner to handle all international packages. We are also exploring possible use of Duluth's Foreign Trade Zone to process and re-export goods without tariffs.

So that avoids tariffs for international customers. Since the books are Made in China, reciprocal tariffs on US-made goods should not apply to them either.

For US backers, Atlas Games MIGHT take a hit in terms of a tax we have to pay on copies we import in order to send them to you. This would be a harsh blow to our profit margin.  However, it's worth noting that we originally planned this book as something that we could sell to wholesale distribution (meaning at a 60% discount to the cover price), the campaign did better than our conservative projections, and a lot of the campaign is outside of tariffs (international backers plus categories 2-4 above).

If I had to decide today (which thankfully I don't), I would print barely more than enough copies of Definitive to fulfill our backer rewards and pre-orders, and not offer the book for wholesale distribution beyond our campaign's existing retailer backers. It's a tremendous lost opportunity, but we might be able to reprint it with a 0% import tax rate at some point in the future.

If you're anxious on our behalf, you can help us hedge against uncertainty by encouraging folks who missed the crowdfunding campaign to pre-order Definitive Edition. They won't get as good a deal as our campaign backers did, but pre-sales mean more copies we can definitely add to the print run (and, in the case of international buyers, keep outside the US to avoid the tariffs altogether).

Meanwhile, work on Definitive continues in our scriptorium!

Thanks everyone for your incredible support and patience in these trying times.

-John Nephew
President, Atlas Gmaes

P.S. Have you checked out the 3rd party Ars Magica Open License publications lately? I was browsing the category over on DriveThruRPG this morning and there's a lot there now, and more coming! It's so exciting to see this creativity unleashed.

Salvete Sodales. It's time for an update on all our Ars Magica progress!

LAYOUT PROGRESS: Our rough layout has been released all the way up through Chapter 13: Bestiary now! We've been posting previews to backers as we've completed each chapter. Our thanks to everyone who's been providing correction comments! If you haven't been getting yours, please check your settings in Backerkit. The previews include Doug Shuler's fantastic 2-page full-color interior art pieces, so you don't want to miss them!

SHIPPING ARRANGEMENTS: International trade policy is a moving target. At this point items made in China are subject to a 20% tax. There's also a threat that a new tax of an extra 25% will be put on any country that buys oil from Venezuela, which would include China. So that might mean a 45% tax. Who knows? We're continuing to monitor the situation and explore options. For example, we have a meeting next week about the potential of using our local port's Foreign Trade Zone to store and re-ship goods without customs entry.

SOFTCOVER POD FULFILLMENT: For softcover sourcebooks, we're taking extra time to update the production files before fulfilling those campaign rewards. This is because we realized the spines in the print-on-demand files were done in a couple of different styles over the years. For Library of Durenmar backers in particular, we definitely want a consistent spine appearance when all the books are shelved together! Also, our print-on-demand vendor is setting up local printing in both Canada and Australia, which we'll want to use to direct-ship to backers in those areas. For EU backers, the UK-based print location is unable to send higher-value shipments by a DDP method, so we may wind up shipping those from the USA to make sure they arrive without any customs fees or VAT demanded on delivery.

Thank you for supporting the campaign, and ave atque vale.

-John Nephew
 President, Atlas Games

Salvete sodales! Here are some updates on Ars Magica Definitive Edition.

One stretch goal of the campaign was to give backers a free copy of Mythic Venice, the open license Ars Magica sourcebook published by long-time ArM contributor Timothy Ferguson. These e-books are being distributed via DriveThruRPG; you should have received an e-mail with instructions on how to redeem your free copy. Thanks, Timothy, for this and all your contributions to the Ars Magica community!

Speaking of Venice, I want to make sure our backers are aware of Serenissima Obscura, a Backerkit crowdfunding campaign coming soon from our friends at German publisher Vortex Verlag!

The authors of Serenissima Obscura, Melina Sedó and Andreas Wichter, translated the 2nd and 4th editions of Ars Magica into German and published their long-running saga "Castel di Romena" in the German magazine Fantastic Adventure. They are enthusiastic about finally creating something for the Ars Magica universe again! We're excited too, and delighted to see a project like this appearing under the Ars Magica open license/CC-BY-SA.

We have a new iteration of the Ars Magica transmutation dice in hand. We found that the first design was just too intricate, making it difficult to read or ink.



This photo shows some of the new dice, 3D resin printed and with numbers painted. These resin prototypes are satisfactory, so our next step is the CAD/CAM work for machining an actual mold.

America's new regime remains volatile and unpredictable. As I write, there is a 10% tariff in place on goods made in China; the 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports are apparently going to go into effect on March 4th. Unless there is again a last minute postponement, there will no doubt be reciprocal tariffs on US exports at that time as well. Other tariffs have been promised or threatened.

Given how things seemingly can change unexpectedly over any random weekend, we're just moving ahead and we'll see what things look like closer to printing and fulfillment time. We have gotten updated quotes for Definitive Edition with multiple printers in multiple countries. At this point, a Chinese printer is the top contender, even with an extra 10% tax on the manufacturing cost.

One wrinkle that we've become aware of is that the executive order imposing the tariffs explicitly says there is no duty drawback. Drawback is where, normally, goods that are re-exported from the US within a certain time frame are eligible to have the duty refunded. These special new Trump taxes are explicitly not refundable. This means we'll be looking into ways to handle international backer fulfillment without ever having those Definitive Editions enter the USA. It may or may not be more affordable and reliable to just bring it all into the US first. There's also a possible way to use Duluth's Free Trade Zone to defer or avoid formal entry for re-exported goods.

Another aspect of the executive order was the elimination of de minimis duty exemption on shipments from China and Hong Kong. This was quickly suspended, because the capability to assess and collect those taxes on hundreds of millions of small packages per year did not magically appear with no advance planning or funding for systems development and upgrades. If the de minimis were in place, it might make sense to have US shipments of Definitive Edition shipped directly to US backers from an international fulfillment partner, but that is not something we'll do if it would mean seeing our backers get handed paperwork and bills for a full customs brokerage/clearance process.

One way or another, we'll make it all work out! I'm continuing to watch developments closely and research all our options for all the contingencies we can see.

-John Nephew
President, Atlas Games

There's a lot going on in the world right now, but we're still moving steadily forward on Ars Magica Definitive Edition. We just uploaded the draft PDF of Chapter 10 to Backerkit, so if your pledge tier includes the draft PDFs, you should now be able to download it. Among other things, we think you'll love the two-page spread of Doug Shuler's new art that kicks it off.

Progress continues on the Ars Magica custom dice. Our mold is being redesigned for a larger size die and faces with simplified decoration that will be more legible than the first iteration.

The news is full of trade wars and new taxes on imports. We're continuing to watch closely, and exploring all of our options for Definitive Edition's printing and fulfillment this summer.

-John Nephew
President, Atlas Games

Happy New Year to Ars Magica fans from all of us at Atlas Games! Here are some updates.

Add-On Shipments

Numerous add-on shipments have gone to folks. In some cases these are POD book sent directly from the printer. For others, we have shipped from our warehouse in Proctor. I pushed through shipping notifications yesterday from Backerkit, which may have given you a message about something that you in fact received a week or two ago. But if it tells you you should have received something and you didn't, let us know so we can fix it!

We are in the process of sending another batch of add-ons from Proctor. These included Saga Journals that were manufactured in the US and sent to us, and which we are sending along to various backers, including ones in Canada and Australia, and some where a backer was getting both one or more Saga Journals and one or more of my hand-cast medallions.

For all of the print-on-demand items, I have to stay cognizant of the tax and customs issues. We can print in the UK and ship to the EU as long as a shipment is under 150 euros in value (the IOSS limit); but shipments over that are a problem because our POD vendor doesn't offer DDP shipping. So larger EU shipments need to be sent from the USA, where we can choose a carrier and method that pays VAT/duty at the border and bills it back to us. Similarly, for shipments to Canada we need to send them from the USA so that we can ensure that the recipient doesn't get handed a tax and service fee bill.

With 5,000 backers and dozens of add-ons, as well as dozens of destination countries, this is all quite a lot. The campaign promised delivery of things when the Definitive Edition itself is available next summer, but we are continuing efforts to deliver whatever we can sooner. Given uncertainties about international trade with the incoming US administration, we want maximum flexibility on Definitive Edition fulfillment when the big book itself is all done.

Medallions and Antiquing

I've made and sent quite a few of the Ordo Hermae and Bonisagus medallions and keychains.

In the comments, Colin Jones asked about methods for antiquing a medallion. Ones I've sent people have varied from a bright silver freshly cast look to the well weathered. If you don't do anything, zinc will oxidize over time to some shade of gray to white. (Zinc oxide is, after all, a staple for white pigmentation.) If you want to accelerate and customize the process, there are a few approaches. One is to leave it in a cup of vinegar overnight. Another is just to put it outside in the elements for a few days of rain or snow.

After you get a level of antique dullness that appeals, polish the high spots to make them shinier again. I like using a very fine grit sanding sponge or sandpaper. It doesn't take much abrasion to remove the film of oxidation and reveal the shiny metal underneath. Heck, you could just use a scouring sponge in your kitchen. Steel wool, wire brush, or even an old toothbrush can also touch it up. The one I keep in my pocket with my car keys tends to stay brighter on the high spots just from handling. If someone wanted to polish it to a bright silver and keep it that way, it would require some kind of clear coat that would prevent contact with air/oxygen.

You could also paint your medallion, using any traditional gaming minis/models techniques -- say, painting it gold, applying a dark wash, then dry-brushing the highlights and sealing everything with a clear topcoat. I've just been trying the natural/chemical processes, but enamel/paint offers some intriguing colorful possibilities. More authentic than using a paint wash is to just rub it with dirt, grime, ash, whatever. Maybe a little vegetable or mineral oil. After smearing it all over, clean it up just by wiping (rag, paper towel, etc.), and leave the grime that gets into all the fine recesses.

Have fun! It would be neat to see what people do with them, if anyone wants to share pictures on the Atlas Games forums.

Recycled Dice

We now have a mold for the recycled Ars Magica dice. Here's what it looks like:

We've tried it out in our benchtop molder with recycled polypropylene. These are the initial results.



We need to experiment now with inking techniques to make the numbers clearly visible. Having some actual rough molded dice in hand, we are now thinking about redesigning the faces for better legibility. We'll keep you posted as our research & development continues!

-John Nephew
President, Atlas Games