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Ars Magica Definitive Edition

Created by Atlas Games

Ars Magica's deluxe edition with vastly expanded text, new art and graphic design, and luxurious upgrades. Did you miss the crowdfunding campaign? We can take pre-orders! Be sure to visit atlas-games.com/arsmagica to see the whole line of printed books, digital books, and regalia that are already available today!

Latest Updates from Our Project:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Ars Magica's First Major 3rd-Party Open License Release
over 1 year ago – Wed, Oct 16, 2024 at 05:44:33 AM

Proctor, MN – 10/16/24 – The Spanish-language Ars Magica™ sourcebook Finis Terrae: El Tribunal de Iberia will be released under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 Open License, thanks to overwhelmingly successful crowdfunding. The release is a collaboration between Atlas Games®, publisher of the classic roleplaying game Ars Magica, and Holocubierta Ediciones, the Spanish publishing house.
 
Finis Terrae, a stunning 340-page full-color book detailing the Mythic Spain and Portugal setting for Ars Magica, will be the first major third-party title released under the Ars Magica Open License. This is a huge milestone for the new license, which itself just launched on October 15th, inviting fans worldwide to experience and develop the rich lore and mechanics of Ars Magica in new and innovative ways.


The open licensing of Finis Terrae hinged on the successful crowdfunding campaign for Ars Magica Definitive Edition currently underway on Backerkit.com. Upon reaching the campaign's Stretch Goal for it, the Spanish text of the sourcebook was set to unlock under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license, empowering creators to build upon and share their own Ars Magica content inspired by the Iberian Tribunal setting.
 
Additionally, Atlas Games plans to work with Holocubierta to secure the rights to the beautiful artwork featured in the Spanish edition of Finis Terrae. This artwork will be utilized in a future official English translation of the sourcebook, which is only available in the Spanish language at present. The English translation of Finis Terrae will also be released under a CC-BY-SA 4.0 license.
 
This partnership is particularly noteworthy as Holocubierta Ediciones is transitioning out of the publishing industry. The two authors of Finis Terrae, Mario Donaire and Óscar Estefanía, will take the reins, establishing a new publishing company called Blagdaross, dedicated to Ars Magica Open License releases.
 
"They will be doing exactly what we intended the license to make possible," notes Atlas Games co-owner John Nephew. "We're excited to see how Blagdaross and other creators leverage the Open License to expand the Ars Magica universe for players worldwide."
 
Ismael de Felipe, co-owner of Holocubierta Ediciones, expresses his satisfaction with securing the future of Finis Terrae and Ars Magica in Spain. "To see Finis Terrae published by Atlas Games, and Ars Magica in such good hands as Mario and Oscar's, is a perfect way to say goodbye," says de Felipe. "Their pioneering work with the Open License makes this moment even more significant. We couldn't be happier or prouder."

Contact: [email protected]
 
Links to Ars Magica Awesomeness:


About Ars Magica:
Ars Magica is the award-winning tabletop RPG set in a Mythic Europe teeming with magic. Players take the roles of powerful wizards, bound by a complex covenant system and dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of the arcane. Widely regarded as the benchmark for magic systems, Ars Magica is also the pioneer in troupe-style, storytelling games.
 
About Atlas Games:
At Atlas Games, our passion is offering exceptional games to the world. Our first release was in 1990, making us one of the most reliable hobby game publishers in business, too. We believe in creative curiosity and sensible operations. We love new ideas and always keep our word. If that appeals to you, boy have we got a treat for you!
 
About Holocubierta Ediciones:
Holocubierta Ediciones is a Spanish publisher specializing in roleplaying games. Holocubierta is known for its high-quality translations and original content for a variety of game systems.
 
Ars Magica and Mythic Europe are trademarks, and Atlas Games is a registered trademark, of Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games.

Update Ex Miscellanea
over 1 year ago – Tue, Oct 15, 2024 at 05:08:59 PM

Like a Hermetic House that gathers miscellaneous magic into some kind of affiliation, this update is going to hit a disparate mix of topics united by my need to put them somewhere. Enjoy!

Dice and the Hermetic Magus

As we were working up this campaign, we originally had a single die included in the Hermetic Magus tier. This seemed like a neat idea (Yay recycling! Let's call attention to our Replay Workshop project). But then we realized that this was not so much a gift as a burden for a big chunk of backers. You see, if you include dice, customs authorities like to say something is no longer a BOOK but a GAME, and for some of our backers that would mean a +20% or more increase to the total pledge cost due to taxes, on both the goods and the cost of shipping. Shipping dice separately is one way to address this, but the cost to ship a single die by itself starts near $4 even in the USA. Which is silly.

So we switched dice to be an add-on for a set of six, to let everyone choose for themselves if they want them, and allow a price where we can handle shipping calculations reasonably, even if in most cases we need to ship the dice separately.

Unfortunately, we missed ONE place where we still had a die listed as part of the Hermetic Magus tier. That has been fixed. But if you were one of the astonishingly large number of backers who pledged today, we want to make sure you're aware of this and why. (Conversely, if you did NOT back the Hermetic Magus tier because you were worried you'd pay an extra $30 or more due to a single die, please reconsider.)

Sorry for any confusion! And thanks to the backers who brought this to our attention.

A Word for Our Friends: The Expanse RPG Transport Union Edition

I'd like to take a moment to mention The Expanse crowdfunding is running right now and has a about a day left to go. You should check it out quick because it's awesome, based James S.A. Corey’s award-winning science fiction novels, and it includes sweet dice and minis. But I also hope you will because Nicole Lindroos is one of the principals of its publisher Green Ronin.

My friendship with Nik goes back to the days before Atlas Games even existed, and we (including Woody Eblom, who is Atlas' warehouse manager today) worked at Lion Rampant, coaxing Ars Magica 2nd Edition into print and distribution. Nik moved to Georgia with Lion Rampant, which then merged with White Wolf. Then I lured her back to Minnesota to work as sales manager for Atlas Games. I can't even list all the people whose efforts brought Ars Magica through the years and up to this Definitive Edition, but Nik holds a special place as a builder of both Ars Magica and Atlas Games.

I fondly remember her magus with spittle-laden, incomprehensible speech (and negative Com score), who would loudly declare that he was a "People Person" while muscling out the companions and ruining sensitive discussions with the mundanes. Only in Ars Magica!

Open Gaming!

Fun fact! Green Ronin and Atlas Games were the first two companies to release commercial d20 Open Game License products for sale, at Gen Con 2000. So that brings me to the topic of open licensing Ars Magica — something that you, our backers, have just made possible! As I write this, it seems clear that we really might unlock the text of the entire 5th Edition product line, and more, for licensing under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

When will they actually release? Well, now. As far as we're concerned, whenever we unlock a stretch goal, the text of those books is now officially licensed. So get to work making new stuff! And tell us about it! You can comment here, and on the Ars Magica Open LIcense Announcements thread on our forums, where people are talking about projects and plans already!

Thanks to YOU!

Thank you again, everyone, for supporting Ars Magica Definitive Edition and sharing the campaign far and wide. This is breathtaking. On behalf of all of us at Atlas and on the Ars Magica development team, we are so grateful, and humbled, and thrilled about the future of this game we love and its devoted community.

-John Nephew
  President, Atlas Games

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Ars Magica Open License FUNDED
over 1 year ago – Tue, Oct 15, 2024 at 10:57:00 AM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Proctor, MN – 10/15/24 – The myth and magic of Ars Magica is now FREE! Atlas Games®, publisher of the legendary Ars Magica™ roleplaying game, is thrilled to announce the successful funding of its Open License. 

Launched through crowdfunding on BackerKit.com, the Open License has just been secured by an outpouring of support from fans. The game's award-winning core mechanics and Mythic Europe™ setting are now both covered by a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license. Details of the license are at atlas-games.com/openars

"We are absolutely blown away by the incredible response from the Ars Magica community," said John Nephew, co-owner of Atlas Games. "This open license empowers players and creators like never before, allowing them to freely share, adapt, and build upon the foundation of the game. And there's even more to come!"
The Ars Magica Definitive Edition crowdfunding, featuring an expansive 600+ page full-color rulebook, met its funding goal in only 3 minutes and served as the launchpad for this groundbreaking initiative. An early Stretch Goal within the campaign unlocked the standard 5th Edition core rulebook's text and setting as Open License, and the expaned Definitive Edition text was close behind. Future Stretch Goals are planned to release even more content, further enriching the creative landscape. The Stretch Goals in total include:

  • The standard text of the 5th Edition core rulebook
  • The Definitive Edition expanded text, more than doubling the standard text's wordcount.
  • Finis Terrae: El Tribunal de Iberia, published by Spanish Ars Magica translator Holocubierta Ediciones
  • Nine tribunal and world region sourcebooks
  • Twelve realms and world topics sourcebooks
  • Twelve Order of Hermes sourcebooks
  • Nine legacy tribunal and world region sourcebooks, from 4th Edition and 3rd Edition
  • Nine scenario books
  • The classic Mythic Europe map from standard 5th Edition's core rulebook
  • Semita Errabunda, Ars Magica's "living covenant"

If the entire Ars Magica line is unlocked by the campaign's close on November 14th at 8pm Central, then the Creative Commons content will include over 60 books, plus supplementary materials. The campaign ends November 14th at 8pm Central.

"For decades, Ars Magica has fostered a passionate and creative fan base," said Michelle Nephew, co-owner of Atlas Games and Co-Producer of the project. "This open license is a way to formally recognize that dedication and empower our community to take the game in exciting new directions."

The successful funding of the Ars Magica Open License marks a new chapter for the beloved Ars Magica tabletop RPG. With the core mechanics and setting now readily available for its vibrant community of creators to explore, the magic of Ars Magica will continue to captivate players for generations to come.
 


Links to Ars Magica Awesomeness:

About Ars Magica:
Ars Magica is the award-winning tabletop RPG set in a Mythic Europe teeming with magic. Players take the roles of powerful wizards, bound by a complex covenant system and dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of the arcane. Widely regarded as the benchmark for magic systems, Ars Magica is also the pioneer in troupe-style, storytelling games.

About Atlas Games:
At Atlas Games, our passion is offering exceptional games to the world. Our first release was in 1990, making us one of the most reliable hobby game publishers in business, too. We believe in creative curiosity and sensible operations. We love new ideas and always keep our word. If that appeals to you, boy have we got a treat for you!
 
Ars Magica and Mythic Europe are trademarks, and Atlas Games is a registered trademark, of Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. Order of Hermes is a trademark of Paradox Interactive AB and is used with permission

BACKER UPDATE #2: BACKER FREEBIES & THANKS!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Oct 15, 2024 at 09:08:18 AM

  

Ars Magica Launch Party!
over 1 year ago – Mon, Oct 14, 2024 at 12:14:23 PM

Salve, Sodales!

This is our first time running a crowdfunding campaign on BackerKit, and we thought we'd try out the Launch Party feature. Basically, this is a gathering page where we can all count down to launch -- now less than 24 hours away!

Share the word with all the Ars Magica fans you know, and anyone else that might be curious. We'll be checking in between now and launch, and I expect to be here a lot tomorrow morning. We'd love to hear from you, and share tidbits about the full soon-to-be-revealed campaign!

Stop into the comments below to say hi!

-John Nephew
President, Atlas Games