GURPS Ars Magica

[Ultraviolet]

Originally Posted by lederhosen

[Reply to Ultraviolet]

It definitely was not Ars Magica. What it was, was a surprisingly workable system within GURPS.

Your system sounds altogether reasonable, and coincides with my fast and loose ideas in many places.
I hadn't thought about the Limitations, as that is a GURPS mechanic I have never used.

Of course it can work with GURPS, my belief is that *anything* can.

But why not just play Ars Magica?`

Since I first picked up Ars Magica 2nd edition, when it was new around 1990, I've been hooked. Newest edition is 5th, and that one is IMHO by far the best. Sadly, the line has been discontinued, we won't be getting new material, and the future is uncertain.

But I've also been hooked on GURPS since I first picked it up. That might have been around 1990 as well, making the leap from D&D and MERP.
After all, I've played/GMed in a Cliffhanger campaign which started in 1994, had a reboot about half way since, and has some of the original players still plus some longtimers.

[robertsconley]

In the mid 90s I ran a GURPS campaign where everybody played a mage. Much of the background was an adaptation of Ars Magica 2nd/3rd edition. However I used GURPS Magic rather than trying to port over the Ars Magica magic system.

The reason is that what I found valuable about Ars Magica wasn't the mechanics but the world building. That the part of the RPGs the provided grist for the adventure mill. GURPS Magic had enough detail allow me to apportion colleges to the different houses in a way that made the feel like they did in the original RPG.

The Background

The Rules
I did not use the noun verb system after a playtest. Instead we just continued to use GURPS Magic as is. Different Houses specialized in different colleges and access to specific spells particularly the powerful ones with many prerequisites were only available to members of that house.

When 4e was introduced with it better way of making powers, members of various houses could take certain advantage that reflected some of the abilities in ars

The rule that get retained was Parma Magica.

Magery (modification)
All Thothian mages have a magical resistance of their magery * 5. Magery cost is normal. This resistance is a learned skill of the Order of Thoth called the parma magica, not found in any other magical order. This resistance does not effect the casting of any spell by the mage. This resistance can be extended to any non-mage by touch (wizard staff counts here) at a penalty of -2 (to the level of resistance) per individual added. A magery 3 mage with 3 non-mage touching will give a 9 magic resistance to all the individual including HIMSELF.

The price for magery was reduced for non-Thothian (non-Hermetic) Mages

It worked well and I continue to use it whenever I run the Majestic Wilderlands with GURPS.

[Michael Cule]

Originally Posted by robertsconley

The reason is that what I found valuable about Ars Magica wasn't the mechanics but the world building. That the part of the RPGs the provided grist for the adventure mill.

Yes, that's the part that got my creative juices going too. One of the things I wanted to do (and probably never will) was run the history of the Order of Hermes from the start as an AM game. I did something similar with the Dawn of Magic and I was fascinated how a lot of material that was in ARS MAGICA seemed to emerge quite naturally from the setup and the need for stories and challenges.

And having done that I now have a slight impulse to try to run 5th Ed ARS MAGICA again.