TEXT: Issue #11
  Hermes’ Portal
  
  Hermes’ Portal
  Issue n° 11
  February 2004
  � � �
  News from the Line Editor: February 2004  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
  by David Chart
  Publisher’s corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
  Mythic Cathay: Taoism  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
  by Timothy Ferguson
  Mythic Cathay: Chinese External Alchemy  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
  by Timothy Ferguson
  Mythic Cathay: Buddhism  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
  by Timothy Ferguson
  Mythic Cathay: The Meta-Bestiary  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
  by Timothy Ferguson
  Advancing Hermetic Theory  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
  by Tyler Larson
  Omnibus Grimoire: Ignem  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
  by Andrew Gronosky
  The Art of History  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
  by Alexander White
  Mystery Riddle  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
  by Tyler Larson
  Heretic’s Corner: Slicing the Gordian Knot  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
  by Michaël de Verteuil
  Hermes’ portal
  Publisher: Hermes’ Portal
  Contributors: David Chart, Timothy Ferguson, Andrew Gronosky, Tyler Larson, Michaël de Verteuil, Alexander White
  Editorial and proofreading help: Sheila Thomas
  Illustrations: Angela Taylor (cover, border & p. 5, 14, 15, 18, 19, 23, 29, 32, 36), Alexander White (p. 17, 21, 27, 39, 41, 42, 47), Radja
  Sauperamaniane (back & page numbering)
  Layout: Eric Kouris
  Thanks: All the people who submitted ideas, texts, illustrations or helped in the production of this issue.
  Hermes’ Portal is an independent publication dedicated to Ars Magica players. Hermes’ Portal is available through email only.
  Hermes’ Portal is not affiliated with Atlas Games or White Wolf Gaming Studio. References to trademarks of those companies are not
  intended to infringe upon the rights of those parties. Ars Magica was created by Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rhein Hagen.
  Hermes’ Portal # 11, Copyright ©2004, Hermes’ Portal. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work is allowed for personal use only.
  Contacting Hermes’ Portal
  Email: Hermes.Portal@wanadoo.fr
  Web site: www.hermesportal.fr.st
  
  News from the Line
  Editor: February 2004
  by David Chart
  It’s been a while since my last news update, so
  quite a lot has happened. Unfortunately from the
  perspective of this article, most of what has hap-
  pened has been Fifth Edition stuff that I can’t really
  talk about yet.
  However, Sanctuary of Ice finally came out, rather
  behind schedule, followed by Faerie Stories. Living Lore
  is at the printers, and may well be shipping to dis-
  tributors as you read this, and the next release, Cause
  and Cure, is ready as well. In short, the remaining
  Fourth Edition pipeline is all in hand, and releases
  should stay at one per quarter until Fifth Edition
  comes out at the end of the year.
  Which brings us back to Fifth Edition. I finished
  my work on the last Fourth Edition books some time
  ago, so apart from administration, I’ve only been
  working on Fifth Edition. Fifth Edition is currently
  in its fourth round of playtesting, which means, I
  suspect, that Fifth Edition has already had more for-
  mal playtesting than all previous editions put togeth-
  er. There shouldn’t be many problems like the Perdo
  Imaginem or combat worries in Fourth Edition, but
  I’m sure there’ll be something important that only
  gets spotted when the book has been printed and
  released; that’s just the way things go.
  The changes and revisions have now settled
  down enough that I’m starting to talk to people
  about writing Fifth Edition supplements, in the hope
  of keeping quarterly releases going once the new edi-
  tion has got everyone excited about the game. As I
  mentioned before, we have changed policy on sup-
  plements for the new edition. Instead of waiting for
  proposals from fans, we are drawing up the projects
  we want to see done, and then talking to people with
  Ars Magica writing experience about working on
  them. I hope that this will produce a more logical
  sequence of releases, that cover the areas that people
  are most interested in.
  I’m excited about what’s happening with the
  game, and I think the current fans will also be
  pleased, along with, I hope, a lot of new ones.
  Publisher’s corner
  Here in France, we are in the “Year of China”, so
  naturally this issue continues the series opened in the
  previous issue, giving you the last four articles devot-
  ed to Mythic China. Now you’re ready to send your
  players to conquer these distant lands and see what’s
  hiding behind the Great Wall — countries full of
  easy-to-collect vis, or Gog and Magog?
  But for those who are too cowardly or too lazy to
  head for such great adventures, this issue still offers
  enough food for thought: new spells, new ways to
  undertake discoveries in your lab, and new mysteries
  based on the study of History.
  Otherwise, in a not-so-distant-future, there will
  be a free special issue for long-term subscribers (i.e.
  those of you who have bought at least ten issues). I
  already have a clear picture of what will appear in this
  issue, now I need the time to write it!
  Next issue should be ready before the end of
  May, and Abelard will come back!
  3
  
  Mythic Cathay: Taoism
  by Timothy Ferguson
  T
  aoism, although influenced by Indian philos-
  ophy,
  is China’s indigenous religion.
  Although early Taoism was theologically
  uncluttered and emphasised acting without
  planning, by the Sung dynasty the folk-religion, out
  of which both Taoism and Confucianism had arisen,
  had consumed it. Taoism was divided into clusters of
  religious communities, each of which had a slightly
  different theology.
  Taoism, in game terms, indicates what Europe
  might have become if not for three homogenising
  factors. Lacking pressure from the Church, polythe-
  ism and magic maintain their presence. Lacking the
  aggressive expansion of the Church and Hermetic
  Order, pagan teaching institutions flourish and con-
  tinuity of knowledge allows refinement of their
  exceptional talents. Lacking Bonisagus, a robust, sec-
  ular style of magic does not develop, so the Chinese
  schools retain their religious nature and focus on
  methods of achieving immortality.
  Many of the abilities of Taoists will be familiar to
  those using Ars Magica supplements. The Chinese
  folk religion, from which Taoism descends, was the
  equivalent of Shamanism, although the wu, its prac-
  titioners, might have also practiced werebearism. Dif-
  ferent branches of Taoism focus on charm-making,
  summoning and alchemy, and have techniques supe-
  rior to those found in the West. Unlike their Western
  counterparts, however, Chinese practitioners are
  unable to produce novel effects, since their practices
  are religious and their deities active.
  The Way, Tao, is the transcendent underlying
  principle. It was expressed as a series of doctrines,
  called the hun-tun, by the Gods to Lao-tzu. He
  taught the hun-tun to Chang T’ien-shih. Chang’s dis-
  ciples, now hsein (Taoist immortals), also trained fol-
  lowers and each school (p’ai) claims descent from
  one of these Masters.
  P’ai: Schools and styles of Taoist
  practice
  Taoism is a religion which, rather than dividing
  into heretical sects, separates into competing schools,
  which often recognize each other’s value, even if they
  quibble about which is more prestigious. Schools can
  be described by the intensity with which their teach-
  ings focus on three areas: talismanic magic, mysti-
  cism, and alchemy. Most schools combine the three,
  but emphasise one.
  The most prestigious Taoist school during the
  game period is the Mao Shan Shang-ch’ing. Since a
  second, shadowy sect of suspectedly-black magicians
  also takes its name from a mountain (shan) called
  Mao, this group is most easily referred to — by a
  translation of the latter half of its name — as the
  Great Purity school. Although the Great Purity
  School declined under the Yuan Dynasty, during the
  late Sung each of the other great Taoists schools was
  deeply influenced by its key text, the Ta-tung Chen-
  ching. When considering the three key areas of
  Taoist practice, this article will use the Great Purity
  School’s beliefs as its frame of reference.
  Talismans
  Talismans are written charms, but to understand
  their power, players need to be familiar with mystical
  Chinese attitudes to writing. The earliest Chinese
  word for writing referred to divinationary blocks.
  The word for scriptures, ching, is a homophone of
  the word for road, which is another way of saying
  Tao. All words are magical, because they are essential
  to the things they name, but also because certain
  words, the ching, grew spontaneously out of the for-
  mation of the universe, uttered by the Primordial
  4
  Taoism in Brief
  Lao Tzu’s initial work, the Tao Te Ching, is all but
  unreadable in its original form, since the ideogramic
  alphabet he used does not include many of the
  building blocks of the modern sentence. Literally,
  the first line translates as “Tao tao’d not tao” and
  then it becomes even more obscure. What follows is
  the best gloss of thousands of years of obscure anti-
  scholastic philosophy that could fit into this article.
  Tao?
  The word Tao appears in descriptions of all Chi-
  nese religions, including Christianity. Different reli-
  gions mean different things by Tao, and within each
  religion the word is used in varying contexts.
  Although it translates very badly into English, the
  Tao, when spoken of by Taoists, can be thought of
  as the underlying rationale, as Nature or Natural
  Law, as the Spontaneous Causer of Things, as the
  primal unity. The word doesn’t always refer to the
  Way, it can also refer to other ways of doing things,
  and to the visible effects of the Way.
  This is not the Tao you expect.
  The following descriptions of Taoist practice are
  derived from academic works completed by skilled
  sinologists. A lot of it will look unfamiliar, even to
  readers with some interest in Taoism, because the
  discipline has undergone a historiographic shift
  within the last decade. A lot of the “Taoism” ped-
  dled in English literature is orientalist, that is, it takes
  advantage of Western ignorance or ill-definition to
  project what the author is seeking upon ancient Chi-
  nese sources. This section tries to present a vision of
  Taoism, in the limited space available, in accord with
  modern scholarship in English on Taoism. I’d
  encourage readers to become familiar with modern
  academic sources on Taoism, especially if they are
  fortunate enough to speak French, the language of
  cutting-edge sinological theology. This article is
  based, primarily, upon Taoist Meditation: The Mao-
  Shan Tradition of Great Purity by Isabelle Robinet
  translated by Pas and Giradot.
  
  Breath. Ching underlie reality and give it structure:
  the translation of books from ephemeral to physical
  states — from light, through clouds, through golden
  letters on jade slates, to mortal books — orders the
  universe. Talismanic magic is the magic of these spe-
  cial words.
  Contracts, or fu, play an important role in talis-
  manic magic. Each ching contains fu, and these are
  used as authority to create writs that bind natural
  forces or the shen that underlie these forces, com-
  pelling them to obey instructions from the holder of
  the writ. These writs have also come to be called fu.
  Writs can be carved or painted, but writing them on
  cloth or paper, in black or red ink, allows them to be
  carried conveniently. Folksier magicians scourge
  themselves and write fu in blood, or simply write the
  characters invisibly in the air. Since fu are written in
  Chinese to exacting formulae, duelling magicians can
  often tell what charm their rival is beginning to pre-
  pare.
  Alchemy
  Chinese alchemy concentrates on the quest for
  immortality, and takes two forms, internal and exter-
  nal. External alchemy uses herbs and minerals in
  attempts to extend the lifespan. Chinese pharmacol-
  ogy is far superior to that of contemporary Euro-
  peans, since it works toward immortality by curing
  one problem at a time, but certain drugs, usually con-
  taining jade or cinnabar, are rumoured to purge all
  causes of death from the body. Since it is obvious to
  the Chinese that people taking most immortality
  drugs die faster, external alchemy loses favour to
  internal alchemy.
  Internal alchemy nurtures pockets of energy that
  reside in each organ, to maintain their health. Organs
  are nurtured in different ways by each school. Com-
  mon practices include meditation, dietary prohibi-
  tions, physical exercises, sexual activity or inactivity,
  and prayer. By keeping the organs healthy death can
  be delayed, but internal alchemy’s highest adepts can
  also purge all causes of death from their bodies.
  Mysticism
  Mysticism is the worship and commanding of
  spirits. The Great Purity school places its greatest
  emphasis on mysticism, so much so that the energy
  pockets within the body are seen as spirits, to be pro-
  pitiated much as the gods are. Skilled mystics can
  spirit-travel, visiting the corners of the Earth and the
  courts of Heaven, and can visualise places which are
  imaginary, but are real, rather than fantastic. The
  method of worshipping spirits, the power to com-
  mand them, and vivid descriptions that guide visual-
  ization of true places comes from the scriptures, the
  ching.
  Learning The Ching, or Scriptures
  The ching were made manifest by the Primordial
  Breath, then transmitted from god to god until they
  were revealed to humans. These humans, enlightened
  by the ching, became immortals and founded schools
  The Five Agents and the Five Organs
  Taoists believe existence is maintained by five
  active principles, which cycle within all things. Each
  agent is linked with an element, a direction, a bodi-
  ly organ, a colour, a season, a spirit, a planet, a
  mountain, a cereal, a true place and an article in
  every other category imaginable. To Taoist mystics,
  visualization of the internal organs is vital, because
  the organs are linked to the agents, and allow a wor-
  shipper to manipulate their currents and visit their
  true places. Unhealthy Taoists, in most schools,
  simply can’t perform their rituals correctly, because
  their connection to the agents is impaired. Many
  early Taoist texts teach hygiene and medicine, since
  Taoists are meant to live separate from others, and
  need to be able to tend their own illnesses.
  5
  
  to train others who had the marks of potential
  immortality upon them. This descent of knowledge
  creates a spiritual hierarchy, and gives a new Taoist a
  place within the cosmos. To accept a student is much
  like accepting an adopted child: to become a student
  is much like being adopted.
  To transmit a scripture, the master and apprentice
  meditate facing one another. Between them lie the
  ritual offerings usual as thanks for the transmission
  of the ching. These vary by scripture, being symbol-
  ically linked to the ching’s contents, and are sacrifices
  to the gods who first taught that particular scripture
  to a human. In return, the student learns the “jewel
  names”, or true names, of these gods, which allows
  him to ask their assistance and borrow some of their
  authority. He is taught an Earthly manifestation of
  the ching which is in Heaven.
  As they descend, the ching increase in complexi-
  ty. Initially a very simple diagram, which represents
  the workings of the cosmos, at each stage of descent
  explanation is added, bulking out the ching, so that
  the earthly copy can appear complex. For the rest of
  his life, the new student uses these accretions in the
  ching to discover the meaning of the initial, simple
  symbol. As the adept comes to understand the ching,
  they learn to unify disparate things.
  Each ching is protected by jade youths and maid-
  ens. These spirits will obey the command of the
  Taoist who has the ching but will depart temporarily
  each time the Taoist is impious. If they feel the
  Taoist is utterly degenerate they abandon him, and
  the ching either rises back up to Heaven, or is con-
  sumed in a ball of spiritual flame.
  Chu: vocal magic
  The chu are lengthy rituals — recitations of the
  ching — which are similar to western summoning,
  except that purification rituals, many of which take
  days, must be performed in advance of them. These
  exercises include correcting posture, clearing the
  mind of all thoughts, visualising internal organs or
  watching spiritual breaths enter and leave the body as
  coloured clouds. These preparations also include
  washing with water into which a talisman has been
  dipped, massaging the face in auspicious ways, mak-
  ing Buddhist-derived hand gestures, and grinding the
  teeth. Many schools suggest the use of fortifying
  drugs, either tablets or incense smoke. Following the
  preparations, the rituals are relatively brief.
  Taoists perform magic by invoking spirits, using
  the jewel names found in the ching. Their prayers
  usually begin with a name, a description and a biog-
  raphy of the spirit to be summoned, so that the
  Taoist can visualise it properly. The Taoist then
  chants a summons, then makes a request, usually to
  borrow some of the powers of the spirit. The spirit
  complies to recompense the Taoist for their faith.
  Alternatively, the same technique can be used to ban-
  ish demons. This allows the Taoist to cure most types
  of physical infirmity, including ageing, blindness and
  paralysis.
  Chu are magical words, but every sound names
  something, and so any sound can be a magical word.
  This underlies Chinese attitudes to magical music,
  which has the power to alter the world, and to med-
  itation by breathing, where the sounds of different
  ways of inhaling are the jewel names of internal
  organs. It also explains why Taoists grind their teeth.
  The sound is the name of a heavenly bell, and ban-
  ishes malign influences.
  Transformations and invisibility
  Skilled adepts are able to transform themselves
  into a wide variety of forms, but most of these are
  subtle and of little value in most roleplaying scenar-
  ios. Even those yet to transcend sometimes develop
  the ability to take other shapes, but this practice is
  more strongly present amongst the fang shih and
  other schools of Taoism. The five shapes usual for
  those who recite the Shen-chou Ching, a Greater
  Purity text, are light, cloud, water, fire and draconic.
  In light form the adept is invisible and cannot be
  harmed. In cloud form they can travel terrific dis-
  tances quickly. In water or fire form they are immune
  to these elements and can become one with them. In
  dragon form they affect the weather. Practising these
  transformation assists in the transformation of the
  mortal body into the immortal body.
  Another Greater Purity text describes a formula
  of meditation and ingestion of talismans which, if
  performed for many years, allows the adept to
  become invisible by facing the seasonal point on the
  horizon, swallowing another talisman and making a
  small dam of soil. Similar techniques allow invisibili-
  ty by becoming light, hiding and travelling within the
  earth, becoming wood while in forests, bonding with
  the adept’s shadow, or looking like a common per-
  son. Other texts allow transformation between gen-
  ders and ages.
  Taoist Virtues
  Taoist characters usually can’t develop new magi-
  cal workings by experimentation. Although they can
  develop a greater understanding of the ching they
  have, and for player characters it is usually compre-
  hensive, they simply cannot develop powers that are
  not related in their ching. They can only develop new
  fields of ability by learning new ching, and this is all
  but impossible away from their master and the sacred
  mountain which houses their school.
  Making a fool of yourself
  Never mention game terms near people who
  speak Chinese. Each sound has different meanings
  depending on tone and dialect. “Ching” for exam-
  ple, is the Anglicization of both “scripture” and
  “semen”. A running gag amongst restaurateurs is
  that “lucky dragon” is regularly mispronounced
  “(expletive meaning having sex with) apricot”.
  That’s why Hermetic magi can use apricots as spell
  foci (+1 to affect dragons).
  6
  
  Each school accesses different ching, granted by
  their immortal founder. It’s this process of revealing
  new ching which makes a worthy patriarch for a new
  school. The Great Purity School grew out of older
  Taoist practices, and so its students have access to
  their ching, as well as the True Scripture of Great
  Profundity, which is the most highly thought of
  ching in the Sung period. It leads toward Heavenly
  Immortalhood, using the alchemical and talismanic
  practices of lesser schools to support its key method,
  visualisation. The True Scripture of Great Profundi-
  ty, collected with a series of other minor Mao Shan
  revelations, is called the Scripture of Great Purity,
  and sections of this are the ching which player char-
  acter Taoists usually begin with.
  If designing another school of Taoists, the story-
  guide should select which of the three sections of
  the Storehouse of the Tao it focuses upon: mysti-
  cism; talismanic magic, alchemy. This, in turn, selects
  the key exceptional talent of the school; Unity; Ching
  Knowledge; Chinese Alchemy. All schools emphasise
  one of these skills, since each leads to a different sort
  of
  immortality; heavenly, earthly, underworldy.
  Although characters have all three skills, their scores
  in their non-dominant skills cannot rise above one-
  third of their dominant talent. The exception to this
  is Unity, which can rise to three times the score of
  the dominant skill. All schools have True Sight as a
  strong second ability. When purchasing Virtues,
  reduce the cost of the two non-dominant talents by
  one each.
  The powers of Taoists described in this section
  assume continued access to a ching. They are derived
  from the philosophy of the Scripture of Great Puri-
  ty, and are quantified for game purposes as Virtues:
  Hedge Magic describes more fully the idea of magi-
  cal companions, but a person playing a Taoist basi-
  cally uses the following cluster of virtues and flaws,
  and sacrifices their Hermetic magus slot. In exchange
  for their Hermetic magus slot, the character is given
  10 additional points of virtues, which don’t need to
  be balanced with flaws.
  True Sight
  This virtue costs +2, or +4 for travellers (see
  below). The True Sight power allows an adept to see
  spirits, demons, faeries, auras, and regio boundaries.
  It also allows them to view magical forces, which is
  important for talismanic and alchemical magic, and
  their enchanted internal organs, which is vital for
  mystical Taoists.
  A variant of this ability allows mystics, or folk
  magicians, to voyage mentally, an ability similar to the
  shamanic Travel, but more effective. After ritual
  preparation, the adept chants a chu, then sends his
  mind inward, or outward depending on the school.
  His Travel score is stress die + Int + True Sight +
  Concentration if a folk magician. The roll is simple
  for mystical Taoists.
  If he is attempting to visit a place he has visited
  before, he must total 9+ to arrive. Folk magicians
  who fail this roll wander lost in the psychic realm for
  an hour, before returning to their body or rerolling.
  A botch (one dice) means he has lost track of where
  he is and cannot find the way back to his body. Mys-
  tic Taoists make an Intelligence check of 9+ to
  realise they are lost, then either awaken or reroll, only
  wandering an hour if the Int check fails. They cannot
  botch, since they never leave their bodies, as
  described in Unity, below.
  If the wanderer is attempting to visit a place he
  does not know, he needs a strong physical or emo-
  tional connection to it, or if a mystical Taoist, the
  detailed description of how to get there provided in
  his ching. For this journey he needs to roll 12+ to
  arrive successfully. Failure indicates he is lost. Folk
  magicians need to find their bodies again, as familiar
  places, but mystical Taoists believe they’ve not left
  their bodies, and so just resume consciousness if
  they wish.
  Mystical Taoists regularly Travel to the four
  mountains at the edges of the Earth, and to the
  many Heavens. This allows them to search the bar-
  barian lands for fu, treasures of the spirit, and the
  essences of the directions, which they need to ingest
  regularly, so that they can cease depending on the five
  cereals. It also helps them Unify their inner gods, as
  described below.
  If the character is trying to visit the lands beyond
  the edges of the Earth, one of the Heavens or the
  Underworld, travel is more difficult, requiring a roll
  of 15+ and a connection, physical, emotional or
  scriptural. If a traveller becomes lost, he wanders for
  six hours before realising it. A botch (three dice) and
  the wanderer is lost.
  The time it takes a traveller to reach their destina-
  tion varies by the success of their roll.
  While the spirit of a magician is absent, his body
  appears to be a fresh corpse. Unless other precau-
  tions are taken, the empty bodies of folk magicians
  are sometimes possessed by spirits. Greater Purity
  Taoists already believe that every organ is possessed
  by a spirit, and those 38 keep intruders at bay pro-
  vided the adept has a Unity score of 3 or more.
  True Sight can be increased by a season of extra-
  corporeal excursions, or meditation upon the viscera.
  For each season so spent, the Taoist gains one expe-
  rience point. Such a season, although spent living as
  a Taoist should, does not generate a point of Unity
  experience, as described later, since the visualization
  exercises differ.
  Roll
  Time taken
  Earth
  Past the Edges
  of the Earth
  12-13
  15-16
  4 hours
  14-15
  17-18
  2 hours
  16-17
  19-20
  1 hour
  18-19
  21-22
  20 minutes
  20-21
  23-24
  5 minutes
  22+
  25+
  1 minute
  7
  
  Unity
  The Unity Virtue has a value of +3 for Great
  Purity Taoists, but may be lower if the Taoist has a
  less comprehensive ching.
  One of the main goals of Great Purity medita-
  tion is to unify the spirits which inhabit each organ of
  the body with their corresponding heavenly actors,
  then unify the spirits of the body into a single,
  androgynous being, Emperor One. The closer an
  adept draws to Oneness, the greater their ability to
  manifest magical powers.
  Mechanics of Unity
  Adepts begin with a Unity score of 1. For each
  season in which they secret themselves away from
  others and fulfil the meditational duties outlined in
  their ching, their Unity increases by one experience
  point. Experience from other sources cannot be
  spent on Unification. Certain effects cannot be
  attempted until Unification reaches a certain level,
  and some ching, if followed, grant powers that are
  unrelated to Unification, which are simulated by
  Virtues.
  A character achieving a new level of Unification
  should return to the Sacred Mountain to be given
  further instruction by their master. Those who do
  not return can develop experience toward the next
  level of Unity, but do not earn the final experience
  point until their master gives them new ching. Addi-
  tional sources of new ching are the distant lands
  beyond the four edges of the world. In ancient times
  sages travelled to the edges of the world, finding,
  creating or learning new fu, then returning to China
  with fresh ching, founding new schools. Young char-
  acters may venture to the distant lands to seek traces
  of the ancient seers. Elderly characters may travel to
  the four quarters to become worthy of new ching
  that allow them to reach the uppermost levels of
  Unity, become immortals (hsien) and found schools.
  Certain adventures in the distant lands grant auto-
  matic insight into the oneness of things, and allow
  immediate increases in Unity.
  Unity is diminished when Taoists break the
  taboos inherent in the lifestyle detailed by their ching,
  or when they suffer injuries that impair their organs,
  and thereby diminish their link to the Five Agents.
  Unity lost through illness returns once the sickness is
  cured.
  The adept’s Unity score is added to all Magic
  Resistance Rolls, Soak Rolls and Stamina rolls which
  resist poisoning or illness. The adept’s Unity score is
  subtracted from all ageing rolls. Although the Unity
  modifier is not cumulative with other sources of
  supernatural longevity, many Taoists use alchemical
  preparations to boost their Stamina, which delays the
  onset of ageing.
  The dependence of Greater Purity adepts upon
  visualisation limits their development of Unity.
  Although their Unity score can exceed their True
  Sight score, when used in a formula, adepts use the
  lesser of the two. This symbolises the importance,
  within this school, of being able to see one’s organs,
  journey to the quarters and heavens, and consume
  the essential breaths of stars, deities and agents.
  These activities make Unity possible and distort the
  body, allowing it supernatural abilities. Other schools
  have similar limiting factors.
  Calling down gods
  The Taoist Adept, through creative imagination,
  sends his mind to the corners of the Earth, while
  simultaneously drawing the inhabitants of magical
  places to the Taoist’s retreat, or into the Taoist’s
  body. This allows him to make requests of the spir-
  its, and they usually grant these, because the posses-
  sion of a ching implies a contract between the Taoist
  and the gods who passed the ching to mortals.
  Great Purity Taoists have the tremendous advan-
  tage that their ching states that just about every
  important god is resident in one of the Taoist’s vital
  organs, which means one or more of them is almost
  certain to have a spirit that can grant your wishes
  under their control. The limiting factor for Greater
  Purity Taoists isn’t the lack of jewel names, which
  cripple other traditions, it’s a lack of Unity sufficient
  to reconcile the Taoist’s desire, the inner god and the
  outer god.
  A player calling down a deity should check the
  metabestiary article (see page 22) and create a
  8
  Taboo acts
  Different ching relate different taboos. The fol-
  lowing taboos are game variants of Great Purity
  School taboos.
  Loss of one or two levels
  Breaking dietary laws
  Failing to perform the daily routine of a
  Taoist for a period of longer than a week
  Failing to hoard your sexual energy (not fol-
  lowed by many other Taoist schools)
  Loss of two or three levels
  Deliberately polluting your body.
  Eating the five cereals, if Unity is higher than
  6. At this level of Unity, adepts should subsist
  on the sublimated breaths of the sun, moon,
  agents and deities. See the “Travel” talent
  within the “True Sight” virtue.
  Failing in your duties to your master or
  apprentice.
  Loss of all unity
  Extreme moral failures, such as training as a
  sage or Hermetic magician
  Ceasing to sincerely be a Taoist
  Permanent loss of all unity
  Breach of contract with the gods, for exam-
  ple, sacrilege against the revealer of one’s
  ching
  Permanent loss of your own Unity, the
  removal of Unity from your ancestors for up to
  seven generations, and ill-fortune on your
  descendants for another seven
  Revealing a ching to someone unworthy, or in
  an incorrect manner
  
  summonee, then check it with the storyguide.
  Remember that if they want a shen that can com-
  mand a second creature, it needs to be at least 5
  Might more powerful than its potential victim. If
  the character wants to draw along the immediate
  entourage of their spirit, their target number is 1.5
  times its initial Might. A Greater Purity Taoist can-
  not effectively summon a being whose Might is
  more than 5 times the Taoist’s Unity score.
  A Taoist prepares to call down gods as he would
  either for performance of a chu or for prolonged
  meditation. For game purposes, Greater Purity
  Taoists usually prefer chu for those gods tied closely
  to the Scripture of Great Profundity, and use medi-
  tation for other shen. This is because each ching con-
  tains contracts with the gods, fu, which allow the
  ching’s holder to call for assistance. Other schools
  prefer to use fu exclusively.
  Transform
  The Greater Purity Adept gains additional shapes
  in the following sequence: Shapechanging away from
  the human form requires extensive meditation after
  lengthy purification ceremonies. Transforming char-
  acters must make a Unity roll as indicated in the left
  column to successfully change. Unsuccessful trans-
  formations may halt partway between forms, or may
  not commence at all. They can be corrected by trans-
  forming back into human form. Fatalities from failed
  transformations are extremely rare.
  Other ching have differing transformations, so
  other schools have different practices. Some, for
  example, practice invisibility by melding with the
  Earth, which also allows rapid travel. Others allow
  the Taoist to become young or old, male or female.
  Monkey apparently studied in a school that used
  transformation as its key ability. Although players
  might wish to have characters with abilities similar to
  Monkey’s, he gains his transformative powers after
  illumination, and he became illuminated only because
  he was born of the World Egg, a unique origin.
  Talismanic Magic
  Talismanic magic is a Virtue valued at +3, if the
  character’s ching have a Comprehensiveness Value
  (see below) of 5 in all fields. Add 1 to the Virtue cost
  for each point of Comprehensiveness in a field
  equivalent to a Hermetic Form or Technique. Add
  +1 for each two points in a restricted field within a
  Hermetic Art. Subtract one for each point of com-
  prehensiveness taken from the original 5. Players
  should not be allowed to reduce this value by remov-
  ing fields of comprehensiveness, because so many
  are tempted to remove fields they’d not have used
  anyway. Greater Purity Taoists interpret their Ching
  in such a way as to cripple its talismanic uses (Comp
  3, all fields. Value +1).
  Fu are contracts with the gods, or, colloquially,
  magic charms of any type. These come from the
  ching initially, although some have escaped into folk
  wisdom, or into schools of folk magicians. Charac-
  ters cannot design new fu, only use those that have
  been revealed to them by training, or, very rarely,
  Unity score
  5
  human: this is used to change back from
  other transformations. If the transforma-
  tion was due to an outside force, such as a
  curse from another magician, the target
  number rises to the level of the spell
  effect.
  10
  light; can become invisible and intangible
  at will
  15
  cloud; can travel “a thousand li in a day”
  20
  fire; is immune to flame, can become
  flame
  25
  water; can become water, cannot drown
  30
  dragon; can control weather and fly to
  Heaven
  Mechanics of summoning
  Before summoning, the Taoist needs to medi-
  tate. This requires a Concentration check of 12+
  and takes a small space of time. In the case of the
  Greater Purity sect, this takes a few minutes for
  young characters and is increasingly rapid as they
  develop greater interconnectedness.
  The Greater Purity Taoist’s summoning total
  equals stress die + Stamina + True Sight (ability to
  visualize the Gods) + Unity (ability to harmonise
  with the gods) +10 which reflects use of the body
  as a perfect talisman, if summoning by meditation.
  This is the most powerful and versatile form of
  summoning available to Taoists, but summoning by
  chanting scriptures is a skill that develops more
  swiftly. Note that True Sight and Unity act as requi-
  sites for each other in the Greater Purity Sect, so
  effectively Mao Shan Taoists use stress die + Sta-
  mina +10 + double the lower of Unity and True
  Sight.
  A called shen will allow a Taoist to borrow one
  of its powers for a period it deems suitable, for a
  purpose it deems suitable. This sometimes includes
  the authority of commanding its subordinates,
  which is used to banish demons by borrowing spir-
  itual heavies from a Celestial army. Usually a shen
  will only offer a single power at any time, but this is
  not always the case. Shen tend to be generous,
  because the ching contain contracts that bind them
  to aid adepts, but if their abilities are used against
  the principles of Taoism, they punish the Taoist
  personally. Players should remember that shen are
  potent non-player characters, not spell effects, and
  although they are usually cordial, they can be unpre-
  dictable, demanding and obscure.
  The Taoist must perform summoning privately.
  Even the great public rituals that become popular
  during the later Sung dynasty, theologically, exist
  only to isolate the summoning Taoist from distrac-
  tions. If completed perfectly they make the Con-
  centration check before summoning unnecessary.
  9
  
  10
  Fu that accrue
  It’s impossible to list the fu known by each
  school of Taoists in an article this size. Instead the
  following rules should be used:
  If a character wants to know if he can perform a
  certain fu, the storyguide must first decide if it is
  either impossible or certain that a ching contains
  that fu. Storyguides can design ching explicitly if
  they wish. To do this they assign a number of Her-
  metic spell level equivalents, say 150, which the
  beginning character has access to. Virtues and Flaws
  reduce this pool by ten times their value. Fu cannot
  alter a character’s history or grant Virtues which
  seem ridiculous. It’s suggested that very few Her-
  metic Virtues or Flaws be duplicable with fu. If a
  ching does contain a fu, the character can attempt to
  create it.
  Alternatively, the storyguide can allow the char-
  acter’s repertoire of fu to develop over time. If the
  storyguide feels that a ching might contain that fu,
  then the storyguide should assign a Comprehensive-
  ness Value. This measures, on a scale of 1 to 10, the
  proportion of possible effects within the ching’s
  field that the fu contains. The storyguide rolls
  against this value. On a botch, the character has fun-
  damentally misunderstood their ching, and attempt-
  ed a fu which is not related to their circumstances. If
  the roll misses by one, there is a similar effect, deter-
  mined by the storyguide. See page 69 of Ars Magica
  for elaboration of “similar”. Either a success or fail-
  ure should be recorded by the storyguide, since that
  fu availability will be identical in future. Note that
  every Taoist who has the same ching has the same
  set of fu, so fu used by NPCs of the character’s
  school are now available for him, and similarly those
  accessible to him are available to his masters.
  Failing a roll that indicates similarity, a fu which
  does not contain a certain effect does not contain
  effects which are similar, as defined by page 69 of
  Ars Magica. A ching that doesn’t allow you to sum-
  mon the Old Demon General doesn’t allow you to
  summon any other demon general either. A ching
  that doesn’t let you paralyse opponents for a day
  won’t let you paralyse them for a minute. Storyguides
  should strongly enforce this rule.
  Greater Purity Taoists, strictly speaking, know
  vast numbers of fu. Generally however, they don’t
  use them in a way players might find practical, since
  they interpret them mystically. For example, a Great
  Purity Taoist has discovered a fu which summons
  the Queen of the West. For a talismanic school
  magician that’d be such a powerful fu they’d use it
  only with trepidation. For a Great Purity Taoist, its a
  mnemonic that aids True Sight, allowing the adept to
  see the Queen in her realm, which corresponds to
  the spirit in the mystic’s left kidney. This is reflected
  as an increase in Unity. Characters have many prac-
  tical fu or high Unity scores, but not both, because
  the mindsets differ too broadly.
  Examples of fu in ching
  A Taoist discovers a lost scripture called “Imbib-
  ing the Essences of the Moon”, which has simple fu
  that let him see by moonlight, command fireflies and
  summon Swans of the Moon, which act as messen-
  gers. Since the storyguide has predefined the con-
  tents of this ching, he never rolls to see if it contains
  a fu.
  Another Taoist increases his Purity and is
  rewarded, by his master, with access to a new ching,
  “The White Agent”. The storyguide decides that it
  has a value of 5, on all matters linked to the white
  agent, except that it does not allow summoning of
  the spirits of the west. Hereafter the storyguide rolls
  a stress die whenever the character wants a fu that is
  related to metal, the west, the lungs, and other things
  corresponding to that agent. Whenever he succeeds
  or fails, the storyguide notes these limits, since they
  affect others using the ching. He also decides that on
  a botch, the character will attract the attention of the
  White Tiger of the West, a powerful demon who
  causes Autumn.
  Crafting fu
  - Simple fu whose durations are longer than
  Diameter must be recorded. Usually these
  recordings are duplicated. For example, to
  cure illness a fu will be written twice on a sin-
  gle piece of paper, cut in two, then one will be
  worn while the other is ingested.
  - No more than three simple fu can target a
  human at once, but a Taoist carrying more can
  select which will be active, on a round by
  round basis. They must declare which fu are
  active during the initial phase of the combat
  round. A character whose magic resistance
  fails to protect him from a hostile charm los-
  es one of these slots to that effect and can’t
  select to ignore it. Hermetic effects that dis-
  tort the target may also take one of these slots.
  Complex fu may take one of these slots, but
  longevity charms do not.
  - Particularly skilled sages are rumoured to be
  able to accept more active fu. At the story-
  guide’s discretion, a new fu slot is gained when
  Ching Knowledge reaches 10, provided all fu
  come from that ching. Another slot appears
  with every 5 points of ability.
  - A character cannot create fu whose totals are
  more than 5 times the value of either their
  True Sight or Ching Knowledge scores.
  - Simple fu are not cumulative. Complex fu may
  be cumulative, at the storyguide’s discretion.
  - Unlike Western charms, fu can target places.
  Places can be affected by three fu, plus one for
  each level of wild aura, minus one for each
  level of civilised aura. If more than the maxi-
  mum number of fu is present, then those with
  the highest totals are active.
  - Fu are created individually. Although groups
  can use fu at the same time for the same
  
  found in the lands beyond the edges of the civilised
  world.
  Fu come in two types, simple and complex. Sim-
  ple fu have a single effect, duplicating a spell or
  virtue. These take the place of spellcasting in talis-
  manic Taoism, where the rapid scribing of a writ,
  invisibly in the air, creates a hand gesture that has a
  magical effect. These fu last a brief period, and are
  little used by the Greater Purity sects, who use fu as
  mystic aids. In comparison, folk magicians prefer this
  sort of fu, although they often extend the duration
  by formalising the hand movement on paper. This
  also allows them to make a living selling charms.
  Complex fu can take seasons to produce, and can
  have sophisticated, permanent effects. Generally,
  Greater Purity Taoists write fu on the solstice or
  equinox auspicious to their agent, after lengthy med-
  itation, in beautiful weather. Other traditions are
  more prolific, although the days of the agents make
  writing fu easier.
  It should be noted that although Greater Purity
  Taoists use fu to assist their mediation and imagina-
  tive exercises, those fu are assumed in the True Sight
  and Unity abilities. A Greater Purity Taoist who, for
  example, draws on his foot to aid astral journeying
  does not use these rules. He simply makes his normal
  True Sight rolls.
  Alchemy
  Internal Alchemy is a +2 Virtue if you have Mys-
  tic Understanding, a +3 Virtue if you have a Purity
  score and a +5 Virtue if you have both. The value of
  Purity rises if the starting character has access to
  more than 150 level equivalents of Transcendence
  effects, at the rate of +1 per ten levels.
  purpose, for example to attack an enemy,
  their magical abilities are not pooled: their
  attacks are handled separately.
  - Although fu can create magical effects, they
  can’t simulate those that are unique to the
  Hermetic Order. Most obviously, a charm
  cannot replicate the Aegis of the Hearth,
  although other warding effects are possible.
  Air spells are difficult for Chinese magi, since
  their cosmology has everything breathing
  essences, rather than “air”.
  - Fu that contain multiple effects take one sea-
  son per effect to create.
  - Talismanic Taoists don’t use vis, however, at
  the storyguide’s discretion, they sometimes
  require virtuous materials (as per Hedge Magic)
  to craft complex fu.
  - A fu roll always produces a magical effect,
  because every sound is a name, as is every
  character. If a character does not botch his fu
  roll but fails to make his target level, his mis-
  drawn fu has an unpredictable effect, selected
  by the storyguide, although this doesn’t harm
  the Taoist. Some of these effects are invisible,
  because they effect distant objects, or make
  tiny changes in the character’s surroundings.
  Fu Ease Modifiers
  To make a complex fu requires a total of 12 on stress die
  + Int + Ching Knowledge + True Sight + aura, with the fol-
  lowing modifiers: For simple fu, halve the sum of the modi-
  fiers and round up.
  Effect
  Ease factor Modifier
  Alter a Characteristic
  + (7 × alteration)
  Alter an Ability
  + (3 × alteration)
  Add or remove a Virtue
  + (7 × virtue or flaw cost)
  or Flaw effect
  Longevity charm*
  + (2 × subtraction from roll
  for self, 4 × for others)
  Simulate Hermetic spell
  + twice spell level
  Simulate Hermetic ritual*
  + twice spell level
  Multiple effects within
  sum effects, then multiply
  same charm*
  by number of effects
  Cap an Ability at current level
  +3
  Rolls on a single Ability
  +14
  are always 0
  Rolls on a single Ability
  +21
  always botch
  Duration
  Momentary
  -2
  Diameter
  -1
  Day
  +0
  Week
  +1
  Month
  +2
  Permanent*
  +0
  Simulated Hermetic spells still need a second duration.
  This second value represents how long the fu remains
  “charged” and available for use. For example, a Taoist who
  makes a fu which flings a sharpened rock needs to choose how
  far into the future that fu remains active. Unused charges, pur-
  chased below, are lost if the duration expires.
  Number of Uses
  One
  -1
  Two
  +0
  Three
  +1
  Preparation
  Writing in the air
  +5
  Writing rapidly on paper
  +3
  Using a prop,
  +3
  no other preparation
  Writing and using a prop,
  +1
  no other preparation
  Rendered in a medium more
  +1 (wood) to +5 (jade)
  permanent than paper
  Meditation or mantra
  -1
  Meditation, purification,
  -2
  recitation of chu
  Auspicious equinox / solstice
  -5
  Meditation, self-mortification,
  - cumulative injury modifier,
  blood used to write fu
  not performed by Great
  Purity. If injuries healed
  before fu is made, this
  modifier is lost.
  *Always complex fu.
  
  External Alchemy is a +1 Virtue if you are an
  assistant, a +2 Virtue if you are a master and a +3
  Virtue if you have achieved grand mastery. Many
  alchemists also take social Virtues to reflect business
  ownership.
  China has a pair of related alchemical traditions.
  Initially China’s alchemists were similar to those of
  the West, enthusiastic prescribers of elixirs of dubi-
  ous merit. After many Tang emperors died more
  quickly than was usual due to repeated doses of jade
  and cinnabar, this form’s status was usurped by inter-
  nal alchemy, which claims that the internal sub-
  stances of the body can be recombined by medita-
  tion, lifestyle and exercise to allow immortality.
  External alchemists continue to exist and do a thriv-
  ing trade in medicines, but few noblemen would be
  so foolish as to believe that their alchemist can sell
  them secrets which the Tang emperors could not
  buy.
  The Internal Alchemist
  Internal alchemy is an underlying inspiration for
  the mystical practices of the Greater Purity sect,
  described above. The essential difference between
  internal alchemists and mystics is that one considers
  the frame as the living thing, filled with substances
  and structures which fuel vitality, while the other
  considers the body to be a frame filled with inde-
  pendently-alive sentiences. Greater Purity mystics
  don’t use these Internal Alchemy rules — they
  instead use visualization and Unity to perform inter-
  nal alchemy.
  Internal alchemists are Ascetics similar to those
  found in the West, with the following exceptions.
  These rules are also a useful model for very early, all-
  but-secular, Taoists, who followed only the work of
  the Master, and not one of the explanatory schools.
  Such Taoists are all but inextant in Sung China, but
  players sometimes like a very uncluttered, cinematic
  Taoist character, and ascetics are suitable for this.
  Ascetics in brief
  Ascetics must live within a restrictive set of
  taboos, and the storyguide rates their play on a scale
  of 1 to 6. This score represents the character’s Puri-
  ty. Purity is used in Transcendence, which allows the
  character to ignore the five agents, and Mystic
  Understanding, which allows them to feel the course
  of events. Ascetics begin with a Purity Score of 2,
  and can’t alter this with experience points.
  Purity guidelines
  0 Constantly lapses from ideals
  1 Major lapses no more than weekly, and minor
  lapses no more than daily.
  2 Major lapses no more than monthly, minor
  lapses no more than weekly
  3 Major lapses no more than seasonally, minor
  lapses no more than monthly
  4 Major lapses no more than annually, minor
  lapses no more than seasonally
  5 Never has major lapses, and has minor lapses
  no more than annually
  6 Never lapses
  To transcend, the character selects an effect on
  the Transcendence Table, meditates, then sums a
  stress die + Stamina + True Sight + Purity + Medi-
  tation Bonus + Aura Bonus and compares it to the
  transcendence table. Transcendences last until the
  ascetic gives in to the mundane needs of the body, or
  invokes another transcendence effect. To simulate
  this, the character must make a Stamina roll of 12+
  ever 12 hours or give into the needs of the body. Add
  1 to the difficulty factor for every twelve hours after
  the first since the character has eaten or slept.
  Transcendence Table
  12+ Walk on water, ignore weather, ignore the
  weight of a single object, ignore a campfire
  sized flame.
  15+ Heal a Body level. Exist for a day without
  sustenance
  18+ Allow one Agent to flow through you
  harmlessly. Reduce your body’s weight to
  feathery lightness and walk on air. Breathe
  underwater or under the earth.
  24+ Allow magical energy of all five agents to
  flow through you harmlessly.
  Allow
  weapons of all five agents to flow about you
  harmlessly.
  27+ Allow all five Agents, in all manifestations,
  to flow through you harmlessly. Become a
  being of light (and become invisible). Turn
  into a cloud and travel a thousand miles in
  moments. Turn into earth and tunnel rapid-
  ly to other locations.
  36+ Become a sun and rise into the Heavens
  (this retires the character from the game).
  Meditation Table
  Modifier
  Action
  None
  -12
  1 round
  -9
  2 minutes
  -6
  10 minutes
  -3
  1 hour
  0
  6 hours
  +1
  24 hours
  +3
  Unlike Western Ascetics, Taoists are permitted to
  take breaks during long meditations, for refreshment.
  - The Internal Alchemist is penalized by the
  presence of the Civilized Aura, or Wild auras
  which are tainted by the work of sages (includ-
  ing Hermetic magi), but is assisted by all other
  auras.
  - The character’s Purity score is added to all rolls
  on Survival, Awareness, Concentration, True
  Sight and Athletics.
  - Internal alchemists, unlike Western ascetics,
  are not required to withdraw from human con-
  tact. They are instead required, in their deal-
  ings, to follow the Tao. Their ability to follow
  the Way determines their Purity score. They
  12
  
  tend to withdraw to the wilds, meditate, eat
  temperately and, by the Sung period, abstain
  from sex. Earlier schools emphasized sex as a
  useful method for balancing the yin and yang,
  but this led to scandals and notoriety in the
  distant past.
  - Taoists transcend much as Western ascetics do,
  although their description of the process dif-
  fers in two ways. If the character is part of a
  school of internal alchemists, after achieving
  each new level of purity the character should
  travel to their master and learn a superior
  series of exercises. If the character’s Purity
  falls, they do not forget these drills and can
  recommence them once it rises again.
  - Internal alchemists can only select effects from
  the Transcendence Table that have been
  explained to them by their master. A beginning
  Taoist learns the equivalent of 150 levels of
  Hermetic spells, as selected by the storyguide.
  These effects are always focused on the body
  of the Alchemist. They gain extra effects as
  their master demonstrates new techniques to
  them.
  - Unlike Western ascetics, Taoists subtract their
  Purity scores from all Social skills. They also
  subtract it from uses of the Guile Ability. They
  add their score to Magic Resistance rolls if
  they wish, and to all Stamina rolls against poi-
  son and disease. They subtract treble their
  Purity score from their Ageing Roll. Many Chi-
  nese practice minor austerities, to have a Puri-
  ty score of 1, which increases their lifespan
  remarkably.
  - Mechanically, Taoist Mystic Understanding
  works as the Intuitions Virtue does, save that
  the Purity score of the Taoist reduces the dif-
  ficulty factor of the Intuition roll. When the
  character’s Purity score is 6+, their talent
  works automatically. Taoists don’t have a
  supernatural source of information, they have
  an instinctive sense of what the next step
  should be.
  - Players of Ascetic Taoists can ask only one
  question “What is the correct thing to do
  now?” They are not limited to three questions
  per topic, as Western ascetics are. Storyguides
  worried by this ability can make the answers
  they give vague, symbolic, or excessively
  detailed or too broad, but should note that this
  ability provides a moral compass. It can’t help
  a character reach goals, because to have goals
  is immoral, and there are times when it will
  answer “prepare for the joy of waking from
  the fever that is life”. To ask for a direction and
  then not take it is an impure act.
  - The moral compass of the Tao constricts what
  a player character can do. The Tao-enlightened
  are virtuous without knowing that they’re eth-
  ical. The character must be played as both
  benevolent and unaware. True Taoists are
  good by accident, since they have forsaken
  planning entirely. Planning is an impure act.
  Rules for External Alchemy follow on page 14.
  Death
  Death has several causes, in Taoist belief. At the
  creation of the embryo, knots are tied in the viscera,
  and these cause eventual death unless removed by
  purification rituals. Three evil spirits, the Three
  Worms, reside within the body and draw it toward
  death, so that they can be released. These must be
  expelled by summoning or alchemy. Finally, a group
  of gods tracks the good and ill a person does, and
  adds or subtracts from their lifespan, to reward or
  punish.
  At death, the degree of purity of the Taoist deter-
  mines his fate. Those of great merit, but little skill,
  become governors of the underworld, and continue
  their studies toward immortality. Those of greater
  merit do not die, but cannot live in the Heavens,
  since they retain bodies: these remain in earthly para-
  dises, continuing toward heavenly immortalhood.
  These paradises are regiones upon or within sacred
  mountains. Heavenly immortals leave the body
  behind, ride astride dragons and command the stars.
  Their state is the goal of Great Purity Taoists.
  Ability scores for Taoists
  Like other mystical companions, Taoists have
  10 points of free Virtues, up to ten points of
  Virtues balanced by Flaws, 41 experience points
  preset in Abilities, a score of 5 in Speak (own lan-
  guage) and 10 + age experience points which the
  player spends as they wish. The player also sacri-
  fices his Hermetic magus slot to play a mystical
  companion.
  A Greater Purity Taoist has the following
  scores:
  Free Virtues: True sight +4 (traveller), Unity +3,
  Limited Talismanic Magic +1, Limited External
  Alchemist +1, Secret Hiding Place +1 (The regio in
  which the character’s master lives, probably in Mao
  Shen)
  Usual: Wise one, but not compulsory.
  Ability (initial score): True sight 4, Unity 2,
  Alchemy 1, Ching Knowledge 1, Scribe Chinese 3,
  Speak own dialect 5, Taoist Theology 4, Concen-
  tration 2, Survival 2, Medicine 2, Folk Ken 2, Ath-
  letics 1, Swim 1
  Other ching, and other schools, exist, and the
  virtue packages for them vary by chief ability. Many
  lack Travelling. The Great Purity School’s members
  are comparatively powerful summoners. Other
  schools, however, have a stronger talismanic focus,
  and therefore can craft a wider variety of charms,
  or have a more intense alchemical focus, and so
  know many more recipes. None, however, have
  flexibility equivalent to the Western Virtues
  “Greater Alchemy” or “Craft Charm”.
  13
  
  Mythic Cathay:
  Chinese External
  Alchemy
  by Timothy Ferguson
  E
  xternal alchemy is one of the few Chinese
  magical practices where experimentation is
  possible. That being said, characters in their
  early twenties, beginning alchemists, are lim-
  ited to formulae that their masters have taught them
  during apprenticeship. Although their skill score con-
  tinues to increase, unimpeded, the range of effects
  they can produce is strictly limited until they are giv-
  en or develop a broad pharmacopoeia. Once this
  occurs, they become similar to Western Natural
  Magicians, but lack the Spellcrafting skill.
  Alchemists’ assistants
  Most young alchemists will work for a master
  who sells his potions from a store, hawks while trav-
  elling the cities of the empire, or serves a wealthier
  patron. Alchemical assistants have the Medicine abil-
  ity and can perform those works that they’ve regular-
  ly assisted their master to perform in the past. In
  consultation with the storyguide the player should
  choose those effects his master is most likely to have
  used. He knows the correct formula for (Alchemy +
  Intelligence) potions, and gains an additional formu-
  la each time his alchemy score improves.
  Minor potions
  The formulae an apprentice knows may include
  standard potions, but minor potion formulae are
  often more useful to beginning characters, since they
  are easier to produce, and require no vis. To create a
  minor potion requires one hour’s work, two if you
  need to gather the wild ingredients or run about
  apothecaries with a shopping list. This produces a
  single dose, whose potency is determined after it is
  swallowed.
  The alchemist rolls a stress die + Intelligence +
  Alchemy (+ Alchemy bonuses if any). If the roll is
  9+, then the imbiber adds (Alchemy + any alchemy
  bonuses)/2 to one of the following list of abilities
  for the next full day. If the roll fails the potion has no
  effect. For rolls of zero, roll two botch dice plus one
  for each potion the character has consumed today
  beyond the first. For botches, subtract the maker’s
  Alchemy score for a full day. Double botches usually
  aren’t fatal, but are left to the storyguide’s discretion.
  Drinking two potions that affect the same skill or tal-
  ent, in the same day, automatically produces a botch.
  With an appropriate formula, an alchemist can also
  create potions which reduce the following abilities by
  the maker’s Alchemy score. The difficulty factor is
  again 9+.
  Many non-player character alchemists never train
  beyond this degree, and become pharmacists. This is
  also the degree achieved by most mystical Taoists,
  who use drugs to help them Travel, increase their
  Stamina and cure illnesses.
  Master alchemist
  A master alchemist has developed the resources
  and pharmacology to create potions of almost any
  type, like a Western alchemist. This status is some-
  times inherited from the character’s master. Many
  apothecaries are family businesses, which sons inher-
  it. Alternatively the character can purchase or other-
  wise acquire one of the powerful ching which relates
  the formulae of the profession. If the storyguide
  wishes, this corpus can be broken up into separate
  ching, which then become story goals. These writings
  may include the formulae for creating magic items.
  These rules, slightly altered, are used for other poten-
  tially-magical crafts, like sword-making.
  Note that just because a character has a formula,
  does not mean they have the ingredients necessary to
  produce a magical drug or device. Although a thriv-
  ing trade in ingredients bustles in most major cities,
  truly spectacular results sometimes require expen-
  sive, distant pieces of dangerous animals. A rule of
  Minor potions table
  Awareness
  Animal Handling (is fed to the animal)
  Chirurgy (applied directly to wounds)
  Carouse
  Concentration
  True sight
  Survival
  Visions (half the bonus to your Visions tal-
  ent is subtracted from all mundane percep-
  tion rolls)
  14
  
  thumb is to scale a city by its Civilised aura, and state
  that replacement ingredients are available, at steep
  prices, for effects with a Hermetic equivalent of 5 ×
  aura
  To move from assistant to master is one of the
  great goals in the life of an alchemist. There’s the
  possibility that a master will refuse to disclose his
  secrets, will replace the apprentice, or will give his
  pharmacopoeia to only one of his apprentices. In
  return, the temptation to murder a master reluctant
  to retire has occasionally proven irresistible. Some
  masters will, however, poison themselves, seeing
  their weight loss as a sign their matter is ‘lightening’.
  Storyguides should carefully plan a character’s move
  from assistant to tradesman.
  Grandmaster Alchemist
  This class of alchemist has developed sufficient
  control over the Agents that they can purify their
  bodies, and other objects, making them less vulnera-
  ble to age. These abilities are simulated by the Trans-
  formation and Longevity powers of
  Western
  alchemists. The paramillenial fixation on longevity in
  the Chinese tradition increases the Alchemy bonus
  for this potion to +9, provided the character can
  procure substantial quantities of Virtuous Jade, Vir-
  tuous Cinnabar, or similar rarities.
  Few street alchemists are initiates of this degree,
  although virtually all of them know some sort of
  “potion of longevity”, usually charlatanous. Many
  masters have a general formula, which they brew for
  themselves, but calculate its lab total as if it were
  designed for another. One of these potions is usual-
  ly implied as part of the payment by a master for the
  services of his apprentice. The most skilled can
  develop a personal formula for themselves or others.
  Developing your own formula demonstrates, using
  your body as an example, how the process of co-
  ordinating the Agents works, and allows the use of
  transformation potions that have requisites.
  Material Science
  The Chinese are technologically superior to the
  Europeans in many fields during the Sung period.
  Although the thrust of Chinese cultural develop-
  ment has, for a time, subsided, the discoveries of the
  past allow Chinese alchemists to produce substances
  and items not found in Europe. The following
  devices are available in China, although sometimes
  rare, and can be constructed by a sufficiently skilled
  artisan.
  Gunpowder
  The Order of Hermes, as the leading body of
  chemists in Europe, are almost certainly aware of the
  existence of gunpowder, samples of which reached
  Europe during the twelfth century. Its formula was
  slower to arrive, and when it did it was initially all but
  useless. A key ingredient, a salt originally used in
  immortality elixirs, is saltpeter, now called potassium
  nitrate. Although available in China, natural deposits
  are rare in Europe. Pure sulphur, which together with
  15
  
  charcoal complete the basic formula, is available in
  China, although, like saltpeter, its export was prohib-
  ited, then monopolized by, an early Sung emperor.
  Chinese bombs began as fireworks, with weak
  gunpowder stuffed into bamboo tubes. These high-
  sulphur bombs were incendiaries, and were flung by
  siege engine, attached as paper packet arrowheads or
  thrown by hand. To make them more deadly, arsenic
  or other poisons were mixed into the gunpowder.
  Later, as the saltpeter content of gunpowder was
  improved, true explosives became available and were
  delivered similarly, although some were constructed
  in small pots. In 1221, the Chin will record the first
  use of metal-jacketed bombs, at the siege of Chi’a-
  chou.
  Characters wanting to make gunpowder can do it
  easily provided they have the correct ingredients. An
  alchemy roll of 6+ creates an incendiary bomb, three
  flares, or a batch of twelve fire arrows. A roll of 9+
  creates an explosive bomb, with or without poison-
  ous additives. A roll of 12+ indicates powder strong
  enough to turn a metal jacket into flying shrapnel.
  Early gunpowder is quite stable, and is unlikely to
  explode on a botch.
  A roll of 12+ can be used to create a rocket. The
  process requires a moistened boring tool to be
  ground through the centre of the charge, so fumbles
  in this process often have explosive results. Although
  rockets have yet to reach the height of refinement,
  lacking stabilizers for decades, the Chinese make up
  for their lack of accuracy with quantity. Cone-shaped
  rocket launchers, which fired a single, dispersed vol-
  ley, were carried by infantrymen and had effective
  ranges of 170 yards. Larger batteries were carried in
  wheelbarrows, and fired hundreds of rockets per vol-
  ley.
  16
  Gunpowder and Combat
  Incendiary Bombs
  See Ars Magica p. 180 for further information on
  fire and poison damage.
  - Paper packets delivered as arrowheads do +5
  damage per round, but ignite their targets. If
  the target is inflammable the goo goes out
  after d10/2 rounds.
  - Rockets are fired in groups which pepper an
  area, so targeting rolls are needed only in
  exceptional circumstances. They do +5 dam-
  age per round, ignite targets, and burn for d10
  rounds if their target is inflammable.
  - Early firelances are an incendiary flare mount-
  ed on a pole. They do +5 damage per round,
  and stay alight for five minutes. Some are
  equipped with multiple barrels, the final fuel
  of one starting the fuse of its neighbour. They
  are used as Longshaft Weapons with an effec-
  tive range of Near. Firelancers are often
  trained to use their weapon as a quarterstaff in
  emergencies. These are standard weapons.
  - Grenades are thrown, do +10 damage per
  round, and ignite their targets. They go out
  after d10 rounds if the target is inflammable.
  - Bombs thrown by siege engines can do up to
  +20 damage per round, and burn for 2d10
  rounds.
  - Characters can tinker with bombs to lower
  their damage but extend their burn time.
  Explosives
  - Paper packets as arrowheads do +10 damage,
  -3 per foot from the explosion. They also set
  ablaze particularly flammable objects.
  - Rockets are fired in groups, so that targeting
  rolls are needed only in exceptional circum-
  stances. They do +10 damage, -1 per foot
  from the explosion. Since they are fired in
  clusters, the unfortunate can be harmed by
  overlapping explosions. They cause particular-
  ly flammable objects to catch fire.
  - Metal-barrelled firelances can throw shrapnel
  to middle range or fire pellets to far range,
  then be used as incendiary flares. Assuming
  the lance is lit, its statistics are
  - Shrapnel / Pellet: Init. +3/+3, Atk +6 / +4,
  Dmg +5 / +8, Dfn +1 (as spear) or +6 (as
  quarterstaff). Str 0, Load +1.5, Spc 3, expen-
  sive. These attack modifiers include the area-
  covering effect of shrapnel and multiple pel-
  lets. If the firelance shoots individual pellets
  they are Atk -1. Note that firelances of this
  type don’t need to be straight. Right-angled
  lances, which allow defenders to fire while
  remaining behind cover, are common.
  - Ceramic-cased grenades are thrown and do
  +15 damage, -1 per foot from the explosion.
  These also cause fires, but since most of their
  damage is due to ceramic shrapnel, it is only in
  the centre of the blast that fires start. Metal-
  jacket grenades are not yet in use, but soon
  will be. They do +20 damage, -1 per foot from
  the centre of the blast.
  - Bombs are usually bamboo-cased and, if of
  the usual size do +25 damage, -1 per foot
  from the explosion. Far larger bombs exist,
  weighing tonnes. Metal-jacketed bombs are
  slightly anachronistic, but characters staying in
  China for more than a few years may see or
  create them. Those of the largest size do +50
  damage, -1 per foot from the explosion. These
  are delivered by trebuchet and can cause fire
  throughout their blast radius, since their dam-
  age is caused by heated shards of metal.
  - If a bomb gives off poisonous smoke, the
  storyguide assigns a strength against which a
  Stamina roll is made. Many bombs contained
  several poisons together. One is recorded as
  containing arsenic, cyanide, ground lacquer
  (an irritant) and animal dung (to demoralise
  and encourage infection and plague). Its
  weight was 1.17 tonnes, and it had a paper
  jacket.
  
  True guns are yet to develop in China, although
  firelances are in wide use. A firelance is a long stick,
  initially bamboo, with an incendiary flare on the end.
  For the length of its burn it spits out a bright cloud
  of flame and superheated metal filings. Later designs
  include metal barrels, multiple barrels which fire
  simultaneously or in series, poison smoke, shrapnel
  sprays and ball-shot. The Chinese later develop racks
  of firelances which are lit with a single fuse. To make
  an incendiary fire-lance requires a roll of 9+, an
  explosive 12+. A botched firelance isn’t a danger to
  its maker, only to the soldier holding the stick.
  Early alchemical texts record that by mixing salt-
  petre, sulphur and a bundle of other ingredients, a
  magician created a purple powder that could turn
  lead to gold and mercury to silver. Unfortunately, this
  formula was mistaken, has been lost, is known only
  to a limited few, or blew all its keepers to pieces.
  Ripe, Grand and Raw Iron
  Cast iron won’t be widely available in Europe for
  another 160 years, but has been present in China for
  about eight centuries. Centuries ago, Chinese
  alchemists noted that if they kept cast iron molten
  for a week, when it resolidified it was oddly flexible,
  a bit like wrought iron, and shattered less readi-
  ly. This means that when Hermetic wizards
  arrive in China, they’ll see peasants ploughing
  with — and horses shod with — iron finer than
  that in their grogs’ weapons.
  The Chinese believed that cast iron, steel
  and wrought iron were the same substance, but
  that the vital juices were bled out of the iron as
  it descended the hardness scale. They knew that
  blowing air across molten iron sucked out the
  “juice”. This allowed them to reduce “ripe”, or
  cast, iron and make steel. The Chinese also
  knew that if they took cast and wrought iron
  and mixed them, they produced a steel which
  was strong and flexible. Coupled with their
  exceptional layer-tempering techniques, the Chi-
  nese produce swords that are lighter, stronger,
  sharper and more flexible than European
  swords.
  The Empire nationalised cast iron making in
  the first century, so characters probably won’t
  have the equipment to make cast iron. Nonethe-
  less, once they have some, they can decarbonate
  it into steel with a roll of 9+. Making Chinese
  swords lies outside the Alchemist’s arts, requir-
  ing a Chinese-trained master blacksmith.
  Plastic
  Lacquer was the first industrial plastic, and is
  widely used in China during the Sung period.
  True lacquer is a plant extract, which, once
  hardened, makes the surface it protects proof
  against water, acids, alkalis, decay and heat. Lac-
  quered vessels are extremely valuable to the
  Chinese, both because they are a sign of status,
  and because they are unaffected by cooking
  fires. Such objects can confuse Hermetic magi,
  since some lacquered objects look as if they have
  been carved from stone.
  It was discovered that lacquer could be prevented
  from setting through evaporation if crabs were
  placed in it. Unfortunately, once crabs have been
  added to lacquer it never hardens. Its ‘perpetual liq-
  uidity’, a form of immortality, made it a substance of
  intense alchemical interest. Alchemists are aware of
  the properties of lacquer, but don’t need to make
  rolls to use it. Herbalism is used to harvest lacquer,
  and skill in painting allows it to be used with econo-
  my.
  Magic items
  Alchemists are dependant on the magic within
  objects to enchant items. Although they follow simi-
  lar rules to Natural Magicians, they are even more
  dependent on having just the right ingredients in
  stock to produce the magic item they desire. A Chi-
  nese Alchemist’s lab total is Intelligence + True Sight
  + Alchemy + Form and Effect Bonuses + Alchemy
  bonuses + aura + assistant’s intelligence + assistant’s
  Alchemy score if they know this formula. It’s a sign
  of unusual trust to demonstrate the making of mag-
  ic items to apprentices.
  
  Mythic Cathay:
  Buddhism
  by Timothy Ferguson
  T
  he third great religious tradition of China,
  Buddhism, was bought from the West by
  Indian missionaries. Readers familiar with
  Buddhism from South East Asian or mod-
  ern Western sources may find this description differs
  markedly from that which is familiar. In the modern
  West the Hinayana school of Buddhism, with its
  focus on the individual and its disinterest in divini-
  ties, is popular. Although Hinayana Buddhists can be
  found in Mythic China, they are a tiny minority when
  compared to the Mahayanans, the Buddhists who
  worship a vast pantheon of divinities.
  The Buddha’s last life
  The founder of Buddhism, Shih-chia-mu-ni, was
  an Indian prince who lived so sheltered a life he was
  unaware that outside the walls of his palace, death
  and suffering existed. Once he discovered these
  things, he became determined to find a way to avoid
  suffering. First he threw himself into a round of
  lubricious licentiousness, but he grew jaded. Then he
  lived as an ascetic, but found suffering there also. In
  the simplest sense, he determined that the suffering
  was inevitable, like the pain of being born, or arose
  from striving, since wanting things makes disap-
  pointment possible.
  The nature of the Buddha is one of the key dif-
  ferences in the beliefs of the two branches of this
  faith. The Theravadan Buddhists believe that the
  founder was a man of great wisdom with a gift for
  teaching. Further, they believe that even if gods exist,
  they too are trapped in the Wheel of Karma, so pray-
  ing to them is futile. Theravadan Buddhists believe
  each person must save themselves.
  The Mahayanan Buddhists believe that there have
  been more Buddhas than there are grains of sand on
  the bank of a river, and that Sakyamuni was the lat-
  est incarnation of one of these. Further, they believe
  that certain enlightened beings, the bodhisattvas,
  have chosen to delay their entry into buddhahood
  until everyone else is saved. Mahayanan Buddhists
  believe that spiritual forces assist salvation, and that
  people should help each other along the path, fol-
  lowing the example of the bodhisattvas.
  The Golden Mean and the Eightfold Path
  Shih-chia-mu-ni determined that the way to avoid
  suffering was to follow the narrow path between
  extremes, so as to avoid striving. The way, another
  meaning for the word Tao, is made up of eight steps.
  The Eightfold Path is not the only way to Enlighten-
  ment, but it is the one usually expressed in Buddhist
  teaching. This is because although there are as many
  methods for teaching as there are students, this one
  is useful in many places and times. The following is a
  shallow simplification of the Eightfold Path, suitable
  for roleplaying purposes.
  - Right understanding: The understanding, on
  the highest level, of the Four Noble Truths.
  Simplified 
  these 
  are:
  that 
  sorrow 
  is
  omnipresent in life, that we add extra sorrow
  by desiring things, that to cease striving stops
  additional sorrow accumulating and that the
  Eightfold Path leads away from suffering.
  - Right thought: Having thoughts which are
  not muddled by worldly illusions and an
  awareness that memories are deceptive.
  - Right speech: Honest speech, that does not
  harm others, or self-delude.
  - Right action: Reacting to the world in a way
  which is guided by Buddha wisdom. Right
  action includes an awareness that the believer
  is not omniscient, so, for example, setting the
  goal of fighting evil is doomed to failure,
  because it is striving. It is similar to the Taoist
  ideal of reaction guided by the underlying
  forces, rather than out of personal volition.
  - Right livelihood: Leaving behind those social
  expectations and filial ties which draw one
  away from the path. Although it is possible to
  live rightly within society, it is perhaps easier as
  part of the sangha, the body of Buddhist
  monastic devotees.
  - Right effort: To love all things boundlessly.
  Bodhisattvas demonstrate this virtue in their
  vow to delay Buddhahood until all others are
  saved.
  - Right mindfulness: Avoiding hollow actions
  performed by rote. Being aware of all that one
  does as one does it, while also being aware that
  18
  
  one is following the Path. Cultivating a simple
  view of things.
  - Right concentration: Disciplining the mind
  through one of the many styles of meditation
  to be focused in such a way that it is in
  absolute accord with the Eightfold Path.
  Nirvana and Bodhi
  Nirvana is the state of bliss sought by Ther-
  avadan Buddhists. When it is reached the illusions of
  the world, the samsara, are destroyed and the ego is
  literally “blown out”, like the flame of a lamp.
  Although this term is sometimes used for the ulti-
  mate states of other Buddhists, the Sanskrit term
  bodhi, which means “awakened”, describes them
  better. It is usually translated into English as “enlight-
  enment”.
  For the Mahayanans, enlightenment occurs when
  integration within the samsara is possible. This is
  their definition of Buddhahood. For Buddhists of
  the enormously-popular Pure Land Sect, enlighten-
  ment is the state which allows rebirth in a paradise to
  the far west. In either case, this is the point at which
  one may become a bodhisattva.
  The Pure Land is billions of worlds away from
  this one, and Buddhas inhabit all of those worlds. To
  be reborn there, some Chinese believe, you need only
  say a certain mantra, with utter conviction, once in
  your life. Others suggest that saying the mantra ten
  times with your ten last breaths is required. The sutra
  on which this sect is based suggests that this is made
  easy if one holds the appropriate Buddha in one’s
  mind for a week at some stage of one’s life. This
  allows him to appear to the dying, which allows them
  to concentrate on the mantra.
  The Five Precepts
  For those Buddhists unwilling to follow the Path,
  five basic rules have been set down to prevent them
  inflicting on themselves the worst karmic damage.
  These precepts are:
  - Do not kill.
  - Do not lie
  - Do not steal
  - Do not be unchaste
  - Do not take intoxicants
  Reincarnation and forgetting
  The reincarnated have forgotten their previous
  lives and cannot remember them by any method.
  Even Earthly Buddhas don’t know what they did in
  their past lives. A character who dies is therefore
  unrecoverable.
  Tempting as it is to allow players to follow the
  progress of a single soul through its many lives, usu-
  ally this is unrealistic. The dead are reborn into bet-
  ter or worse stations according to their karmic bal-
  ance at the end of each life. Many Hermetic magi,
  especially of the violent and adventurous type, will
  deserve to be reborn as animals. If the focus of the
  campaign is a group of pious Theravada Buddhists,
  then successive monks, each containing the same
  amnesiac soul, are a possibility.
  Reincarnative destiny
  In the folk blend of Mahayanan Buddhism and
  heterodox Taoism, great spirits who transgress
  sometimes return to Earth to expiate that error as
  special mortals. Although initially unaware of their
  faults, eventually Kwan Yin or a friend from their
  previous life explains the nature of their crime. This
  allows them to expiate their errors and re-enter
  The Journey to the West
  In Chinese myth, the Mahayanan Buddhist
  scriptures were bought to China by a monk who
  crossed the deserts and mountains to India, then
  returned, presenting these new works to the
  Emperor. Although this journey did take place, it
  was only one of many pilgrimages and proselytisa-
  tion tours from each direction.
  In Mythic China, this monk’s journey is accu-
  rately described in a work called Hsi-yu Chi, the
  Record of the Journey to the West. In English this
  work is often named Monkey after its main charac-
  ter, a powerful animal spirit who aids the monk on
  his journey. It’s highly recommended as a reference
  and source of adventure ideas.
  This work records key Mahayana beliefs about
  the other belief systems of China. It implies that
  the Hinyanan scriptures are not wrong, but were
  given by the Gutama Buddha as a preparatory
  teaching, superseded by the Mahayanan texts. It
  also states that the Three Faiths are One, since
  Buddhism does not reject that which complements
  its message.
  19
  
  Heaven, in Taoist stories, or become enlightened, in
  Buddhist stories.
  An example is the pig spirit in “Journey to the
  West”. He was a Heavenly General who became
  drunk and became amorous with the Moon God-
  dess, so he was cast to Earth. He retains his fighting
  skills, and a magical muck-rake presented to him by
  the Jade Emperor, and after his redemptive quest ris-
  es to the position of Collector of Sacrifices in the
  Buddhist pantheon.
  Storyguides may wish to allow these special mor-
  tals as player characters. They are designed like other
  Mystic Companions. Players of reincarnated trans-
  gressives lose their magus slot, but play companions
  with 10 free points of Virtues, as well as the ten
  points of Virtues they must counterbalance with
  Flaws. Many of these characters are exceptionally
  skilled with weapons.
  Chinese myth also includes sorcerers who are
  reincarnate shen. These are not permitted as player
  characters, but are available as NPCs. Such excep-
  tional magicians often serve as the patriarchs of
  Taoist schools and Buddhist monasteries.
  Monastic Life
  It is desirable, in Buddhist populations, for most
  young men to spend some time in monastic commu-
  nities. For game purposes, a year is the usual,
  although historically the term varied. During this
  period most young men learn the fundamentals of
  Buddhist theology, along with other appropriate
  skills. At times Buddhism is out of favour with the
  secular authorities, and then young men from fami-
  lies of rank avoid monastic service. “Those who
  have left behind the household” serve most of the
  functions of monks, but are kept from possible
  temptation more carefully.
  Many of the beliefs outlined here are responses
  to Dharma, the laws of the Universe. The Dharma is
  unalterable, so the correct human response to it
  doesn’t change. The following traditions arise when
  the Dharma is interpreted to answer daily questions.
  Monks dress in robes, which are usually yellow,
  although their style varies with tradition and climatic
  conditions. Each monk is equipped with a bowl and
  water filter, as well as other minor articles of cloth-
  ing. The function of each of these objects is
  explained during their ordination ceremony.
  Monks are expected to be decorous. They express
  the balance within their lives with precise body lan-
  guage and mild speech. They avoid frivolous conver-
  sation, focusing on interpretations of the Dharma.
  They eat little, and take whatever is served in a
  monastery, or is offered as alms, provided it meets
  their dietary requirements.
  Monks prefer to travel in groups, and unaccom-
  panied travel with a woman is forbidden. If a long
  journey forces them to be away from their monastery
  at night, they try to stay at other religious establish-
  ments. In part this is because they are forbidden to
  sleep in the same room as a woman. Physical contact
  with the opposite gender, even blood relatives, is also
  taboo.
  Rabjung, leaving behind the household
  This ceremony serves as a prerequisite for ordi-
  nation as a novice, and allows outsiders to join sanga
  communities temporarily. The structure of the cere-
  mony is simple, but its stages are complicated and
  few troupes will play them. To begin, the petitioner is
  asked a series of questions to determine if he is a
  suitable candidate. He is then presented for a brief
  ceremony in which he prostrates himself and
  requests admission. If accepted his white, lay clothes
  are exchanged for a robe and then his head, or a
  remaining topknot of hair, are shaved. The functions
  of his monastic gear are explained to him, and then
  he swears to keep the precepts described below. Rice
  and flowers are thrown in celebration of his leaving
  behind the householder’s life.
  In the Tibetan tradition, there are over 40 ques-
  tions, which check if a candidate is barred from ordi-
  nation. These range from the practical “Do you have
  the permission of the king to be ordained?”, “Are
  you older than seven?”, “Have you all of your
  limbs?”, through the religious “Are you a heretic or
  schismatic?”, “Do you not accept the Doctrine of
  Cause and Effect?”, “Are you of differing views
  (about the Dharma)?” to the unusual: “Are you an
  animal?”; “Are you a spirit?”; “Are you masquerading
  as a person from another country or world?”.
  Monastic novices are required to keep 10 pre-
  cepts, which are often extrapolated into 36. These are
  to not
  kill (this includes thoughtlessly killing insects,
  hence the water strainer required for all
  monks.)
  steal
  have sexual intercourse
  lie (especially about spiritual matters)
  take intoxicants
  sing, dance or play music (for self-indulgent
  reasons)
  wear perfumes, ornaments or cosmetics
  (which includes non-monastic clothing or long
  hair)
  sit on a high or expensive bed or throne
  eat after noon (unless ill, travelling or unable to
  meditate through lack of food.)
  touch precious objects (including money)
  Buddhist characters
  Buddhist player characters are designed as West-
  ern ascetics, who avoid extremes and worldly pollu-
  tants. Their impure acts are as outlined above. Unlike
  Internal Alchemists, described in a previous article,
  Buddhists
  - Use the free Virtue package Purity +5, Mystic
  Understanding +4 and Wise one +1. Charac-
  ters who have spent time as monks, but have
  since returned to the secular world, choose
  another Social Class Virtue or Flaw instead, if
  they’ve continued to practice Buddhist purity.
  20
  
  - Are not limited by the teachings of their mas-
  ters, and begin able to produce any effect on
  the Transcendence Table for which their
  scores are sufficient.
  - Only double their Purity score before sub-
  tracting it from their Ageing rolls.
  - Roll Stress + Purity to use Mystic Understand-
  ing. If successful, they ask the storyguide a
  question and are given an accurate, if some-
  what vague, answer. Those playing Ch’an Bud-
  dhists should expect confusing aphorisms.
  Players may only ask one question about a giv-
  en subject.
  - Subtract their Purity score from all ability
  checks of Guile, Charm, Folk ken, and all
  social skills save Leadership.
  - Add their Purity score to checks of Alertness,
  Concentration, Disputatio, Leadership, Sur-
  vival, Dowsing, True Sight
  - Have the beginning skills:
  True Sight 3
  Charm 2
  Concentration 4
  Buddhist Theology 3
  Scribe Chinese 4
  Speak Chinese 5
  Leadership 2
  Awareness 3
  + (10 + age) experience spent at the player’s
  discretion
  - A character who does not devote his life to the
  sangha, but instead spends only a year in
  retreat from his usual life, gains no particular
  Virtues but may select skills that reflect a year
  of study in a monastery. This does not cost
  any Virtue points: it is a 0 point background
  Virtue.
  Other Buddhist Schools
  Two other types of Buddhist need to be dealt
  with briefly, since players may request them. Players
  wishing to design characters from the Vajrayana
  (Tantric) branch or Ch’an (Chinese Zen) school
  should use the descriptions for other Buddhists, but
  modify their roleplaying slightly.
  Tantric Buddhists use written texts, symbolic
  visualisation and mantras in their religious practice.
  Although Tantric magic has a rich history and would
  reward player research, it is a minority religion in Chi-
  na and can’t be dealt with in detail in an article of this
  length. Their philosophy is that energy should never
  be suppressed, only transformed, which makes them
  more active than other monastic orders.
  Tantric magicians lack an external, moral refer-
  ence for their practices. Those who lack the wisdom
  developed through meditation or a desire to help
  others can cause great harm to themselves and those
  around them. To prevent this, all Tantric monks are
  trained to be utterly dedicated to a wise teacher, who
  gradually passes on mystical knowledge as their stu-
  dent attains the wisdom to use it correctly.
  Tantric magicians are Ascetics, but gain the abili-
  ty to perform each type of miraculous act only when
  their master, as played by the storyguide, demon-
  strates a safe method to them. Wicked Tantric monks
  can ignore this prohibition, at great personal and
  societal cost. The Purity score of wicked monks
  doesn’t effectively fall, so their evil is not limited by a
  loss of power.
  Ch’an Buddhists use riddles and paradoxical
  statements to illuminate ideas. Central to their prac-
  tice is zazen, emptying the mind of all thought. Their
  practice of living in the moment and performing
  each action perfectly is particularly apparent to out-
  siders, and can be represented with Virtues. These
  minor differences aside, they can be designed using
  the rules above.
  21
  
  Mythic Cathay:
  The Meta-Bestiary
  by Timothy Ferguson
  T
  his metabestiary emerged from the attempt
  to write Mythic Cathay, a Chinese source-
  book for Ars Magica. Many of the other
  regional sourcebooks for Ars Magica contain
  a bestiary, which usually includes fairies, monsters
  and local divinities. China is so vast that, using the
  criteria for previous books, about 400 gods rate a
  paragraph. A far larger number of spirits and
  demons demand inclusion.
  Instead, this article includes descriptions of those
  classes of creature that appear most often in Chinese
  stories. An insert at the end of the article includes
  guidelines for designing new gods, demons, animal
  spirits and animate idols. Examples of Chinese
  undead have been given, but no guidelines have been
  provided because they are so simple to design. A
  comprehensive Chinese bestiary is impossible, so this
  article provides you with the tools to design your
  own spirits.
  Shen (Gods)
  The shen, gods, representing the three major Chi-
  nese philosophies are entwined in Chinese popular
  belief. It’s common to find statutes of “Buddhist”,
  “Taoist” and local deities all jumbled together in
  shrines. The gods have roles that mirror earthly civil-
  isation, so there is an Emperor of the Gods, each city
  has a mandarin called the City God and a local, influ-
  ential gentleman, the Earth God. The Celestial
  Bureaucracy has Departments that are staffed by
  gods for every function of human life. Popular
  departments include Health and Examinations.
  Outside the Bureaucracy of Heaven are the gods
  at the fringes of the Empire, who control little terri-
  tories near where they dwell. As the Bureaucracy
  expands these gods are often offered minor roles, for
  example as Landlord Gods, which parallel local gov-
  ernors. When this occurs humans, such as the
  Emperor, are sent dreams telling them to proclaim
  the foreign god’s inclusion into the Bureaucracy.
  Within the Empire there are shen who are yet to be
  recruited to the Celestial Bureaucracy. These gods
  have followers whose local cults swell until the Jade
  Emperor finds their god a job, and the mundane
  Emperor recognises their existence. Many of these
  new, indigenous gods were once humans.
  Annoying the Divinities
  Although the Chinese gods are powerful, the
  minor ones can be confronted and dismissed by
  powerful magicians. The difficulty is knowing, in
  advance, whether the shen you are annoying is of
  minor power or is simply too lazy to cultivate a fol-
  lowing. Such antagonised shen can grant magical
  knowledge, treasure or mundane information in
  exchange for being left alone, but they have long
  memories and sometimes gain additional power if
  their divine rank is increased. Shen within the Celes-
  tial Bureaucracy can often request the assistance of
  their superiors, to deal with mortals who trouble
  them, so those annoying gods for profit should tar-
  get foreign gods.
  The Dead
  Chinese ghosts come in many types, and some of
  these are dangerous. The most common are the
  orphaned dead, who are made resentful by the pover-
  ty they endure as they await release into spirithood.
  Kuei or Tsu-shih
  The kuei are ghosts not in the Underworld. They
  are either unable to enter, or have leave to visit the
  world of mortals. They are most frequently present
  during the month of Hungry Ghosts, when the gates
  of the Underworld open and allow the inhabitants to
  visit their descendants. One’s own “ancestors” are
  called tsu-shih, because to call them kuei or shen
  might annoy and bring bad luck. Ghosts are propiti-
  ated with burnt offerings, usually special money and
  paper representations of clothes. Other items are
  possible, and are similarly incinerated. Sacrifices to
  the kuei are always performed outdoors.
  The ghosts who are unable to enter the Under-
  world are usually those who have died before the
  time appointed for them in the Great Book of Life
  and Death. In Taiwan, ghosts who have yet to
  become shen are propitiated as Ta Cheung-yeh, the
  Great Multitude of Honoured Ones, and are some-
  times represented as a single figure. These ghosts are
  said to be those who have died due to fire, water, bat-
  tle or thieves.
  Ku-hun and Yu-ying Kung
  Little shrines, popular in certain parts of China,
  contain tablets to Ku hun, “orphan ghosts”. These
  appease ghosts who have no family to provide for
  them. Such shrines are often erected where many
  orphan ghosts are expected to dwell, for example on
  battlefields or seashores where wrecks are common.
  In these cases it is the lack of effective filial burial,
  which orphans the ghost. There are many subdivi-
  sions of orphaned ghost.
  Gods and Corpses
  Strictly speaking, to a Taoist, gods you pray to
  are a type of ghost. They believe that if gods do
  their jobs well enough, they eventually transcend
  and become stellar beings, so abstract as to be
  uncontactable by humans. Taoists recognise the fol-
  lowing classes of spirit.
  Kui-shen: Restless dead
  Jen-shen: Humans free of the weaknesses of
  embodiment
  Ti-shen: Humans who have gained Earthly
  immortality.
  Shen-hsien: Humans who now dwell in the
  Land of the Blessed.
  T’ien-hsien: Those who have transcended
  and live forever in Heaven.
  22
  
  The Yu-ying Kung, the “Ones Who Answer Peti-
  tions” (or “Responsive Lords”) are the ghosts of
  unidentified people whose bones have been discov-
  ered. They are thought to be able to change the luck
  of gamblers. Another Taiwanese cult, that of the I-
  min Kung (“Righteous Lords”) venerates the first
  mainland settlers of Taiwan, who died on the fron-
  tier, unremembered and without family to bury them,
  as well as those who died for some noble cause. Pre-
  cisely who the Righteous Lords were in life varies by
  locale, as those who died in inter-ethnic battle are
  venerated, each by their own side.
  Yin Shen
  The term yin shen, “dark spirit”, has as many
  interpretations as “shen”, but in some areas it is used
  for ancient spirits who, because of their violent
  deaths, cannot ever enter the Underworld. Their bit-
  ter resentment of the living makes them exceptional-
  ly dangerous and difficult to appease. They are par-
  ticularly effective villains for stories.
  Statues of the Quilto, or the Four Diamond
  Kings, guard a grave so that the spirit inside cannot
  leave. Usually this is a temporary measure, used, for
  example, in the case of a suicide, to bottle up their
  ghost until the correct time comes for them to enter
  the underworld. It is also effective in circumstances
  of vampirism, however, so removing these statues
  from graves is a foolish practice.
  Vampires
  The number of vampires described in Chinese
  folklore is tremendously large. The following are
  some of the key types, but you are encouraged to
  develop others.
  The Sexy Dead
  In the genre conventions for Chinese stories,
  beautiful ghosts sometimes tempt heroes. In a sense
  many of these spirits are vampires, since they drain
  either the blood or the vitality of the men they love.
  It’s not unusual for these delightful spirits to be
  enslaved by whomever has their funeral urn, forced
  to prostitute themselves by threats, one of which is
  to leave their urns in sunlight, which sometimes pre-
  vents the ghost ever being reincarnated. The hero is
  often given the heartbreaking duty of returning his
  beloved’s ashes to her family, so that she can progress
  to the next life.
  Sometimes, however, there is a happy ending. The
  story that was the inspiration for many others of this
  type is Nie Xiaoqin. In it, a merchant is travelling
  through the country when his daughter dies and is
  buried by a small deserted shrine. A demonic tree
  called Granny rules the local ghosts. It forces Xiao-
  qin to appear each night in the shrine and have sex
  with travellers. This renders them unconscious,
  which allows Granny to suck their blood. When
  Xiaoqin fails to seduce an incorruptible scholar, she
  loses her heart to him and begs him to free her. Gain-
  ing the aid of a Taoist swordsman, who needs to col-
  lect 100 ghosts to become immortal, the scholar
  destroys Granny and transplants Xiaoqin’s urn to his
  home. They marry and have two children, while the
  Taoist friar becomes Immortal. This story was filmed
  as Chinese Ghost Story, although the ending has
  been changed.
  A character with a happy spectral romance has a
  more powerful version of the Ghostly Warder virtue
  and probably True Love as well. Ghosts have limited
  potential as Mystical Companions, because they have
  to avoid sunlight and tend to be monomaniacs. That
  being said, Xiaoquin’s children may have been half-
  ghosts. Similar creatures might be designed, through
  negotiation with the storyguide, as Mystical Com-
  panions. They could also make dangerous adver-
  saries, since they might ignore the Aegis of the
  Hearth, being souled, and might be able to walk
  through walls.
  Hopping vampires
  Chinese myths and films (for example Mister
  Vampire) sometimes contain hopping vampires.
  These are corpses dressed in full funeral regalia that
  have been animated by a mortician and are forced to
  obey his will by a magic figure drawn on paper then
  stuck on their forehead. Magi travelling in China
  might see a procession of these creatures, bouncing
  stiffly behind their master, along an Imperial high-
  way. Disturbing as these vampires are, provided the
  fu remain affixed to their foreheads, they are entirely
  23
  
  biddable and perfectly safe. They are created for the
  convenient transport of
  corpses back to the
  provinces in which their families reside. Since the
  procedure is expensive, the vampires are usually from
  the wealthiest classes.
  Hopping vampires are created naturally when a
  person fails to exhale their final breath. This lodges
  in the throat and provides enough vital force for the
  corpse to move. Such monsters are created artificial-
  ly with a bamboo tube shoved into the corpse’s
  mouth and a quick puff of air from the mortician.
  They can be destroyed by dismemberment or flame,
  but another method is to remove the final breath
  from the creature’s throat. This is why a swift jab to
  the solar plexus deaminates them so efficiently.
  Common vampires
  Some Chinese believed the soul, at death, divides
  into three parts. The first, usually “good” part, goes
  to the afterlife, the second, usually bad, sometimes
  resides in the body and the third, which is what
  makes children look like their parents, goes to dwell
  in the ancestral tablet. Vampires are created when the
  lesser soul takes possession of the body and attempts
  to feed on blood and flesh. These are much like
  European vampires, although some have sharp fin-
  gernails instead of fangs or glossi.
  The statistics of common and hopping vampires
  are identical, since they are the domesticated and
  untamed versions of the same creature, but the
  longer the common vampire lives, the more idiosyn-
  cratic its lifestyle and equipment become.
  Will-o-the-wisps
  Where corpses and coffins decay the negative
  energy released forms will-o-the-wisps that are vam-
  piric. Fortunately these creatures lack intelligence,
  relying on predatory instinct to guide their hunts.
  Tuzoiguei
  These creatures are the ghosts of women who
  died childless or in childbirth. They suck the breath
  of infants, causing cot death. Talismans placed over
  their cribs can protect children. A common one in
  wealthy families is a sword made of bound-together
  coins. Tuzoiguei are incorporeal but have small
  Might scores, usually overcome by folk charms.
  Guei (Demons) and Yen Ch’a
  (Yakashas)
  Long ago a war between Heaven and a powerful
  celestial spirit smashed a hole in the Heavens to the
  far west. This is why the stationary star no longer lies
  above the centre of China. Through this hole, to
  which the Great Tree grows, demons enter the world.
  Although those now in the world are relatively few,
  many still rise up from the underworld, counterbal-
  ancing the Celestial court.
  In ancient times the demons were more numer-
  ous and had many skirmishes with human heroes
  and the forces of Heaven. Those demons that sur-
  vived either hid in the underworld or have been
  tamed and now serve the Celestial Bureaucracy. The
  Lord of the Underworld employs many of them, but
  the Thirty-Six Generals have armies of trained
  24
  Romantic Ghost
  Ghosts in Ars Magica spend permanent Might
  to affect the world about them. Unlike the ghosts
  described in other supplements, this sort of spirit
  has the ability to regain permanent Might by drain-
  ing blood. This makes them similar to certain dark
  fairies in the West.
  Characteristics: Vary within human range, but all
  appear extremely comely, except to those with Sec-
  ond Sight. Ghosts’ reflections often appear to be
  decaying.
  Wild (Faerie or Magical) Might 5 or more
  Size -1
  Personality Traits: Vary
  Weapon/Attack: Fingernails, teeth, hairpins,
  scarves
  Soak: 1
  Body Levels: 0/-1/-3/-5, Incapacitated
  Abilities: as in life.
  Equipment: Urn. The holder of a ghost’s urn
  can force it into service.
  Vis: 1 Imaginem or other per 5 Might.
  Powers
  - Discorporate [MuVi(Co) 45] Ghosts can
  become insubstantial or embodied as they
  wish. Some of the weaker ones must concen-
  trate to change, which prevents them using
  this ability in combat.
  - Exhaust [PeCo10] After vigorous intercourse,
  the victim (having already expended a fatigue
  level) must make a Fatigue roll of 9+ or lose
  another. Many ghosts have far more danger-
  ous versions of this power.
  Hopping Vampires
  Characteristics: Vary within human range, save
  that they are tireless and have enhanced Strength
  Might 5
  Size 0
  Personality Traits: Predatory +5
  Weapon/Attack:
  Init
  Atk
  Dfn
  Dmg
  Bite:
  -3
  0
  0
  +3
  Brawl*
  -2
  0
  0
  +5
  *Hopping vampires are slow and predictable in
  their movements. They prefer to strangle or pin
  then bite.
  Soak: +10
  Body Levels: 0/0/-1/-1/-3/Destroyed*
  Vampires are not incapacitated by injury in the
  same way the living are.
  Tireless: 0 points
  Equipment: Funeral garb
  Powers
  Create Vampire Pe(Mu)Co 25: The bite of a
  vampire curses the victim, so that their blood
  slows and they die, becoming a vampire
  themself. There are several magical remedies
  for this poison.
  
  demons under their command, and many other gods
  have one or two who serve as heavies and oddjobs-
  men. Some few have become gods themselves, to
  whom people turn when other demons are causing
  trouble, especially through spreading plague.
  The Yen Ch’a are one of the classes of Buddhist
  supernatural beings, originally of Hindu derivation.
  They invisibly scour the earth and lower heaven,
  either causing trouble or, if friendly, providing
  reports to the gods and minor services for people.
  They are never venerated as individuals, and are con-
  ceptually similar enough to Guei that in Mythic
  Cathay, the two terms denote court of alignment.
  Animal spirits
  Animal spirits are either natural, like the faeries of
  the West, or a form of demotion for transgressive
  shen. Reborn in animal form, they work through
  their spiritual flaws and reascend into Heaven. Its
  unusual for these creatures to have any direct memo-
  ry of their previous life, but the Goddess of Mercy
  has a habit of explaining the creature’s circumstances
  and offering a difficult penance. Very occasionally an
  animal will demonstrate such virtue that it will be
  reincarnated as one of these spirits, which allows it to
  then attempt evolution into human form. Animal
  spirits can be played either as Mystical or Faerie
  Companions.
  Spirits of inanimate objects
  Chinese popular religion arose from animism, the
  belief that all things have spirits, which can be wor-
  shipped, coerced and communicated with. Many
  Hermetic magi recognise the animist premise
  because several Hermetic spells, e.g. “Voice of the
  Lake”, “Stone Tell of the Mind that Sits”, and “Voice
  of the Flames”, indicate that inanimate things are
  self-aware and have memories. Western magi don’t
  often see the point of worshipping lakes and boul-
  ders, so they remain insignificant.
  The Chinese, however, are dimly aware that wor-
  shipping objects makes them more inclined to assist
  humans. Although no Hermetic magi have ever stud-
  ied this process, a Merinita magus might describe it
  thus: worship is an act of Free Expression which,
  over time, lays new correspondences on the spirits
  found in natural objects. The key change is that the
  creature is considered able to bring good fortune in
  a single, restricted sphere, such as luck while travel-
  ling one stretch of road, or aid in not catching a cer-
  tain illness for a limited time. The barely-extant ele-
  mental is altered into a tiny spirit with extremely
  modest, but nonetheless useful, powers.
  After many years of diligent labour, this little
  spirit can, rarely, be recognised by the Celestial
  Bureaucracy as a Landlord God, Earth God or
  courtier to one of these. This then transforms the
  brownie-level of creature into something akin in
  power to the western trooping faerie. Note that
  humans can’t force this change: it comes from
  Above. Others claim that the stones are the homes of
  minor spirits all along, but that these spirits are dif-
  ferent from the underlying spirits of the rocks and
  streams. Their view is probably closer to the Her-
  metic theory of elementals.
  Ill-luck spirits
  Concern with object spirits often focuses on
  avoiding the poor luck they can cause. Just as dead
  humans have ghosts, some destroyed objects, like
  trees or rocks, can leave malevolent beings behind.
  Some large stones harbour spirits who require propi-
  tiation. Statues and steles often contain spirits of
  artifice who resent humans. Minor offerings and
  charms often provide sufficient protection from
  these obstacles.
  Spirits of artifice
  Spirits of artifice, described in Hedge Magic, ani-
  mate objects of human construction. In the animist
  view, the process of crafting an object alters the spir-
  it within the raw material. Other objects are given
  power through rituals which draw powerful spirits
  into them.
  Idols
  The most powerful spirits of artifice in China are
  the shen themselves, drawn into bodies provided by
  god-carvers. Such statutes provide useful adversaries
  in sagas, because most divinities only channel a por-
  tion of their power through idols, and most lack the
  ability to make these wooden statues more difficult
  to destroy. The rituals of idol preparation are lengthy
  and complex, but defacing an idol, so that the divine
  can no longer reside within it, is simple.
  Aside from burning and dismemberment, some
  idols have an added weakness. Most are dedicated
  with a sacrifice that gives a spark of life to the wood.
  This can include an insect stoppered inside the
  image, or the dotting of the statue’s eyes with cock-
  erel’s blood. Removing this “spark” may de-animate
  an idol.
  Animals of Virtue
  Hedge Magic introduced the idea of Virtuous Ani-
  mals, a source of vis and familiars for Hermetic
  magi. In China these creatures have an important
  politico-religious role.
  To the Han, and those following, the arrival of
  odd animals - lions, giraffes, zebras, and such - at the
  court, was seen as proof of the virtue of the prince.
  Killing one is sacrilege and deprives the emperor of
  proof of the support of the gods. Sensible charac-
  ters discovering Virtuous animals should capture
  them and take them to the Forbidden City, to be
  rewarded by the court. To do otherwise invites the
  wrath of Heaven, and the displeasure of the Son of
  Heaven.
  Which animals the Chinese consider to be sym-
  bols of Heavenly support may confuse Hermetic
  magi. A perfectly normal giraffe may keep the com-
  pany of a qilin and a Virtuous lion in the royal
  menagerie, while a delegation with a Kazam Serpent
  might be turned away. The Might of the creature is
  25
  
  less important than its regality, rarity and air of oth-
  erworldliness.
  The Qilin
  The ultimate symbol of Divine favour is the qilin,
  which is usually translated as “unicorn”. These crea-
  tures have bodies like deer, with a single, straight
  horn protruding from their foreheads. Only one is
  seen at a time, since no emperor has ever been so
  blessed as to deserve the presence of a plurality.
  Attacking a qilin makes as much sense as attacking a
  Western angel, so no combat statistics are included
  here.
  Lung (Dragons)
  The dragons of China are water and weather spir-
  its. Their size and seniority ascend with the magni-
  tude of their fluid realms, so well-dragons are small-
  er than stream dragons, which are, in turn, smaller
  than river dragons. Superior to these are the Four
  Dragon Kings of the Oceans, the most important of
  whom, to the Chinese, is the Dragon King of the
  Eastern Sea. Some wells and streams have portals to
  his palace on their beds. As a separate, or possibly
  superior hierarchy, the Junior and Senior Heavenly
  Dragons control where rain falls, and are therefore of
  ultimate importance in agrarian communities. The
  largest dragons may be the Green (or Azure) Dragon
  of the East, one of the four elemental demons who
  helped craft the world.
  26
  Terminology
  Many Virtuous animals represented in Chinese
  art and myths have identical powers, but look a lit-
  tle different from Western representatives of their
  species. Each storyguide should decide if these are
  separate species, or if this difference is simply one
  of representation by human artists. Certain animals
  are given the same names in English, but are clear-
  ly different, like the two types of phoenix or uni-
  corn. In Chinese sagas it is better to use Chinese
  terms for Chinese animals. This helps the players to
  leave their preconceptions behind. When playing
  Westerners in China, a confusion of terms may be
  beneficial.
  Well Dragon
  This is a well dragon of the largest size. Far
  smaller dragons exist. One of the spirits Monkey
  fights on his way to India has a tiny, chilly dragon as
  his familiar, which he hides about his person.
  Characteristics Int 2, Per 3, Pre 3, Com 1, Str 7,
  Sta 8, Dex 0, Qik 0
  Civilised (Faerie) Might: 40
  Size: 5
  Personality Traits: Cunning +3, Polite +2
  Weapon/Attack
  Init.
  Atk
  Dfn
  Dam
  Bite
  +8
  +12*
  +4
  +25
  Claw
  +8
  +12
  +4
  +30
  *Engulfs: anyone taking a body level or more of
  damage must roll a simple die + Size of 6+ or be
  swallowed. Characters can cut their way out from the
  throat (Soak 12) or the stomach (Soak 15). Those
  entering the stomach must soak 20 points of dam-
  age per round from stomach acid.
  Soak: +20
  Fatigue: +10
  Fatigue Levels: OK/OK/, 0/0, -1/-1, -3/-3,
  -5/-5, Unconscious
  Body Levels: OK/OK/, 0/0, -1/-1, -3/-3, -5/-5,
  Incapacitated
  Equipment: Many dragon-grottoes have portals
  to the palace of the Dragon of the Eastern Ocean.
  Vis: 15 Aquam, 10 Auram, 10 Vim, 5 Rego
  Powers:
  Faerie Powers*: Communicate with plants/ani-
  mals/people (especially in or around water)
  21, Control Element: Auram and Aquam 5.
  * Dragons often use fish or other subaquatic
  creatures as spies and messengers, but can
  probably send dreams like other gods. Their
  elemental control powers affect the weather,
  give them the ability to fly and make them
  fearsome opponents in their liquid domains.
  Senior Heavenly Dragon
  Although characters are unlikely to combat
  Senior Heavenly Dragons, they might, in high fanta-
  sy sagas, interact with them. The other ranks of
  dragon form a continuum between these two sets of
  statistics, with one exception. The Green Dragon of
  the East is physically similar, although often repre-
  sented anthropomorphically. It is closely tied to the
  Agent of Wood and lacks weather control powers.
  Characteristics Int 6, Per 3, Pre 6, Com 1, Str 9,
  Sta 10, Dex -2, Qik -2
  Civilised (Magic) Might: 60
  Size: 8
  Personality Traits: Wise +3
  Weapon/Attack
  Init.
  Atk
  Dfn
  Dam
  Bite
  +6
  +16*
  +8
  +30
  Claw
  +6
  +16
  +8
  +35
  *Engulfs: anyone taking a body level or more of
  damage must roll a simple die + Size of 9+ or be
  swallowed. Characters can cut their way out from the
  throat (Soak 18) or the stomach (Soak 21). Those
  entering the stomach must soak 35 points of dam-
  age per round from stomach acid.
  Soak: +25
  Fatigue: +15
  Body Levels: OK/OK/, 0/0/0, -1/-1/-1, -3/-3,
  -5/-5, Unconscious
  Vis: 15 Auram, 10 Aquam, 10 Rego, 10 Vim
  Powers
  Faerie Powers*: Communicate with plants/ani-
  mals/people 21, Control Element: Auram and
  Aquam 15
  * Dragons use lesser gods and magical birds as
  messengers, but can probably send dreams
  much like other immortals. Their elemental
  control powers affect the weather, give them
  the ability to fly and, by creating thunder,
  restore fatigue.
  
  Dragon powers, listed below, are drawn from the
  Faeries supplement. This doesn’t mean all dragons
  are faeries, simply that their abilities are well mod-
  elled by that system, so, to save space, it’s been used.
  In the Dragon and the Bear Mongol spirit drag-
  ons are given the powers of glamour and fear. Chi-
  nese dragons don’t use either power, because they are
  ‘naturally’ terrifying and, if their grottoes are glam-
  orous, they never forget them long enough for any-
  one to notice. Mongol spirit dragons represent the
  threat of the rampaging Mongol horde to the spiri-
  tuality of the Slavs. True Chinese dragons are might-
  ier, but are less fixated on destruction.
  Many regions tell of a spinster befriended, or a
  virgin raped, by a river dragon. Children from these
  unions became heroes or servants of their father,
  and this provides a background for Mystical Com-
  panions. Often the raped girl would commit suicide
  by drowning herself in the river, which was taken as
  a sign that she had become the dragon’s bride, and
  could be prayed to for rain. Such cults tend to quick-
  ly fade away.
  One Cantonese cult, Mother of the Dragon, tells
  of a virgin who raised a snake that lived with her for
  the rest of her life, ascending to Heaven in a thun-
  derstorm that followed her death. It is believed she
  can intercede with her stepson, to arrange good
  weather. Spinsters with pet dragons make interesting
  non-player characters, and can be generated as player
  characters using a variant of the Faerie Friend virtue.
  Creating your own spirits, demons
  and divinities
  Checklist
  Sphere
  What function do you want the creature to have?
  Don’t worry if another spirit is listed as having the
  same role — China’s religions have coalesced from a
  number of centres, so some overlap occurs. Deter-
  mine the area in which your spirit will be active and
  the flavour of powers they use. This helps determine
  what their personality traits will be.
  If your character is a shen, were they ever alive?
  What sort of life did it lead? This probably links, in
  some way, to the shen’s function and powers after
  death.
  Tame or wild?
  Determine if your spirit is Civilised or Wild. If
  your creature is Civilised, whom does it serve? This
  determines its Realm and places an upper limit on its
  Might, at 5 less than its master. Generally, Taoist and
  popular religion deities are Magical, and Buddhist
  magnates are Faeries, but this isn’t exclusively the
  case. This affiliation determines from whom it can
  request aid. If this spirit rules over or kills other spir-
  its of similar type, add at least 5 to the figure given
  later in the Might table.
  Appearance
  Animal spirits look human, but have minor fea-
  tures that suggest their type. Since virtually all of
  them are Wild, they tend to dress and act vibrantly,
  perhaps discordantly.
  Demons are usually bestial anthropomorphs.
  Odd coloured skin and ear tufts, protuberances that
  can be mistaken for horns, are common.
  Civilised gods are usually dressed as mortal man-
  darins, but Wild gods can be as barbarously arraigned
  as they wish. Most are of human appearance,
  although some animals, animal spirits and demons
  have become gods.
  Select your spirit’s props. If Civilised, these
  should hint at the spirit’s role. If Wild, these should
  warn of its offensive capabilities or hint at its pow-
  ers’ flavour.
  Might
  Titles have been given instead of Chinese names
  to give an idea of the scope of responsibility for each
  level of divinity, or potency for each grade of
  demon. The daily servants of a higher power are
  often of the Might rank below their master. Huge
  animated icons in temples dedicated to that shen
  have a Might one rank below the shen’s score.
  Human-sized icons are two ranks below their repre-
  sentee, and altar figurines three ranks below. Only
  very powerful spirits can animate paper figures.
  Might scores use the following scale.
  Up to:
  10
  newly released from the Underworld, minor
  sickness demon, minor magic animals.
  15
  spirit of a notable local feature, demon of
  fever or tuberculosis, most minor animal
  spirits
  20
  minor warrior demon, minor Earth god,
  spirits reflecting large and combat-worthy
  animals.
  25
  minor landlord god, Celestial menial,
  Demon of the Pox, rulers of tribes of ani-
  mal spirits
  27
  
  30
  minor Celestial bureaucrat, spirit of a vast
  natural feature, major warrior demon,
  demon of the Black Death
  35
  City god, The Great General Who Eats
  Demons
  40
  General of a Host of Heaven, Spirit of the
  River at the Centre of the World. Func-
  tionary of the Court of the West. Taoist
  immortal of the Court of the Empress of
  Heaven, Well Dragon
  45
  River Dragon
  50
  Supreme Commander of Celestial Forces,
  Any Lohan,
  55
  Dragon of one of the four oceans.
  60
  Demon Lord of One of the Four Quarters,
  Senior Heavenly Dragons. Jade Emperor.
  Any Bodhisattva.
  Incalculable
  Shang-Ti (The Creator of Heav-
  en), any Buddha, Taoist Trinity
  Characteristics
  Many spirits are insubstantial and therefore have
  no physical attributes. Since those who can take on
  physical form make for better antagonists, consider
  these guidelines.
  Spirit characteristics have a maximum of one
  third their Might Score, unless the Might Score is 40
  or more, in which case they can exceed what the sys-
  tem tolerates. Note that spirits with a maximum
  score in any trait are rare. Minor animal spirits have
  attributes identical to their species of origin. Intelli-
  gence is an exception to the one-third rule, since few
  demons seem smarter than the popular gods, and
  they don’t usually exceed Mythic Intelligence.
  Size
  For various storytelling reasons, spirits encoun-
  tered by protagonists are rarely larger than giants
  (+3), and most are smaller. There are some notable
  exceptions, especially among the Animal Spirits, but
  mêlée attacks upon these creatures are futile.
  Weapons and Attacks
  Most spirits use weapons, but guei and animal
  spirits also have fangs and, often, claws to fall back
  upon if disarmed. Although sometimes enchanted,
  their weapons are often simply large versions of
  mortal arms, the equivalent of great weapons used
  one handed. To calculate the totals for these take the
  initial values from the weapons table in Ars Magica
  4th edition (pp. 172-3), adjust for the spirit’s Strength
  and Dexterity then add any enchantment effects.
  Don’t worry about a skill score.
  Particularly strong spirits (8+) can use enormous
  double-handed weapons. To calculate combat totals
  for these, double the figures in the appropriate Great
  Weapon entry on the weapons table, then apply char-
  acteristics, enchantments and, if the spirit is terrify-
  ingly vicious, a skill score.
  Most demons and some animal spirits can bite,
  which for demons up to size 3 with human shaped
  jaws is a brawl manoeuvre that removes wound
  instead of fatigue levels. For animal headed creatures
  either find the statistics for the original animal, then
  apply bonuses based on differing size and character-
  istics, or guess.
  Claw attacks, from spirits of size 3 or less, whose
  hands are essentially human but with hardened nails,
  use the “Attack” Brawl manoeuvre, but do wound
  instead of fatigue damage. For larger spirits, use the
  claw attacks from the dragon section of the Ars
  Magica 4th edition bestiary as a guide.
  Creatures whose size is 3 or more points greater
  than their enemies gain the +3 bonus for attacking as
  if mounted or from higher ground.
  Soak
  Use the following table to set maximums. Few
  human-seeming, non-combatant creatures will have
  maximum scores, but demons, spirits of dangerous
  predators, animated idols and celestial soldiers have
  excellent Soak scores.
  Might
  1-9
  5 + Sta + armour
  10-19
  10 + Sta + armour
  20-29
  15 + Sta + armour
  30-39
  20 + Sta + armour
  40+
  Select individually. Many celestial
  demons can only be harmed by pear-
  wood weapons. Any Buddhist spirit
  of Lohot or higher grade is unkill-
  able, although they can theoretically
  be harmed. Popular religion gods are
  surprisingly easy to murder.
  Fatigue
  Half stamina. Add extra points for large, embod-
  ied spirits.
  Body and Fatigue Levels
  5 + 1 per Size. Animated icons do not suffer neg-
  ative modifiers from being wounded, unless the
  storyguide rules that limbs have been removed.
  Powers
  Vary widely, but Civilised creatures often have
  rapid movement and flight, to allow them to visit
  Heaven and receive instructions. Many demons can
  discorporate, and both gods and shen can usually
  possess idols of themselves. Causing ill-luck, or
  warding against demons who cause ill-luck, are also
  usual. Major gods and demons can give advice which
  seems like a prediction of the future, but that is
  probably because they have a wider view and are wis-
  er than the questioner. They also have the ability to
  send dreams.
  Vis
  Minimum Might/3, higher for spirits with formi-
  dable magical powers. Animate idols do not contain
  vis.
  Example
  Story Function: To act as a guide, mentor or
  patron to a group of Western magi in China. To
  introduce characters to the Chinese spiritual realms.
  Sphere: Romans in China
  28
  
  Background and Appearance: In 33BC the
  Romans lost an important battle to a raiding group
  from the steppes. Some of their soldiers were taken
  as warrior-slaves and transported across Asia, finally
  founding a city in China, named after Alexandria.
  Their descendants live in China up to the modern
  day, and one of them, surviving as a shen, might be
  attracted to Hermetic magi.
  Lucian, a member of the Roman middle class,
  served as the leader for the tiny contingent of East-
  ern Romans and is venerated as an ancestor spirit or
  landlord god by his descendants. His shen form has
  adapted a little to the beliefs of the Chinese. Remem-
  bered for the way his men fought, with shields inter-
  locked in the “fish scale” formation, a Dragon King
  has given Lucian magically-light, scaly, Romanesque
  armour, including gauntlets and boots.
  Although he is unaware of it, Lucian has caught
  the attention of certain significant water immortals
  that feel he’d make a good general. If promoted he’d
  swap his javelin for a magical trident and gain 5
  points of Might. His statistics would also increase.
  Lucian: a major warrior spirit
  Characteristics Int: 3, Per: 2, Str: 6, Sta 6, Pre 8,
  Com 3, Dex 6, Qik 3
  Civilised [Magic] Might 30
  Size 1
  Personality Traits: Disciplined 4, Orderly 3, Fasci-
  nated by news of Rome 2, Cares for his troops 3,
  Cares for descendants 2.
  Weapon/Attack:
  Init
  Atk
  Dfn
  Dmg
  Javelin
  +11
  +12
  +0
  +6
  Shortsword &
  +14
  +17
  +16
  +10
  Square Shield
  Soak: 36 (26 lacking armour)
  Fatigue: 14
  Fatigue Levels 0/-1/-1/-3/-5/Unconcious
  Body Levels 0/-1/-1/-3/-5/incapacitated
  Abilities: Shortsword and Shield 8, Javelin 8,
  many, many others.
  Vis: 10 Rego: tongue.
  Powers
  - Command Spirits [ReVi30: 3 points] Allows
  Lucian to force Civilised spirits within earshot
  to obey his verbal commands through magic.
  Note that he doesn’t usually depend on this
  ability, preferring to use military discipline and
  his enormous Presence.
  - Discorporate [MuCo25: 1 point] Allows Lucian
  to become intangible and invisible, but
  requires sufficient concentration that it can’t
  be used in combat.
  - Possess [ReHe25, 5 points]: Allows Lucian to
  animate properly carved images of himself
  from any distance.
  - Telekinesis [ReTe15, 1 point]: Lucian can make
  objects move with his thoughts. He uses this to
  bring ill luck upon troublemakers he can’t be
  bothered smiting, and to do odd tricks with his
  weapons, like making them fly.
  - Travel [ReCo35, 5 points]: Lucian can travel to
  Heaven in a few hours, but rarely does. He’s
  answerable to the City God of the nearest
  municipality, and can travel to him in a few
  minutes. He could go to other places, but has
  never seen the point.
  Equipment: Distorted orientalisation of Roman
  cavalry (equitatus) kit, including magically scale-bard-
  ed Fuchan dragon-horse called Troy, because that
  joke was still funny in 33BC.
  Note that were Lucian fighting a similar creature,
  he’d have difficulty overcoming his enemy’s Soak. To
  become a truly effective warrior-spirit, Lucian needs
  to replace his mortal weapons and use his legion-
  naires (or the player characters) to wear opponents
  down.
  29
  
  Advancing Hermetic
  Theory Without
  Unbalancing Your
  Game
  by Tyler Larson
  T
  he Wizard’s Grimoire Revised Edition shows the
  structure of creating discoveries for Ars
  Magica Fourth Edition. It goes into detail
  explaining the game mechanics of creating
  discoveries with a single example. This article is
  intended to expand upon that with a more in depth
  approach including additional examples, advice on
  handling discoveries, and story seeds.
  I think that the idea of altering the way magic is
  “done” is one of the best aspects of Ars Magica for
  it shows a realistic, flawed, and growing magical sys-
  tem that the player characters can actually improve
  upon. With the right tweaking it is very easy to mod-
  ify Hermetic theory to allow all sorts of changes,
  depending on what the storyguide and the troupe
  wants.
  In this article I will show an example for each cat-
  egory of original research, all of which are in use in
  my Saga. By emphasizing discoveries, I have found
  that they enrich my game and encourage the player
  characters with the possibility that they can make a
  contribution to Hermetic magic. So far only one
  player has not told me an idea for a discovery that
  they would like to make. That kind of enthusiasm is
  something I would like to share with you.
  I have created a new category of Original
  Research called minor discoveries. Minor discoveries
  are how the majority of those virtues not brought
  into Bonisagus’s theory by the Founders became part
  of the fabric of modern Hermetic theory. Many
  magi whose tradition or lineage was new to the
  Order developed ideas themselves or worked with
  eager Bonisagi to create new theories and virtues to
  increase the value their new House would place upon
  them. One of the best sources of guaranteed insight
  to a researcher is correspondence or disputatio with
  foreign magi, because of their differing viewpoint on
  how magic works. As members of the Order, they
  have been exposed to enough Hermetic theory to be
  able to “translate” concepts unique to their old way
  of magic.
  A valid reason to allow discoveries into your
  game is the incredible number of plot hooks that
  come with them. A good way to introduce discover-
  ies to beginning characters is to have a trusted elder-
  ly magus hire them to track down ingredients, infor-
  mation, books, and test subjects. In an unscrupulous
  game, a troupe could be agents for hire that steal
  research, kidnap Bonisagi, and assassinate for those
  who wish to maintain the status quo.
  I hope that the reader will go far beyond my little
  sketches and, as an aid to that endeavor, I will give
  some advice.
  1 Before you allow any magus to pursue a dis-
  covery, make sure both of you have a firm
  grasp of the general rules. That way you can at
  least guess at the possible ramifications of
  changing the way magic works.
  2 Make sure that, as the storyguide, you know
  how far you will let the player characters push
  the envelope of the magic system. As story-
  guide you must be familiar with and have
  access to the Original Research rules (chapter
  8, pages 84 to 88 of the WGRE).
  3 As storyguide, placing limits on original
  research discoveries that you feel are danger-
  ous can help to maintain game balance. This
  can encourage the player characters to work in
  order to use the breakthrough and also to pro-
  vide a reason why every other magus in the
  Order doesn’t utilize the new discovery. That
  is, if you don’t want it ubiquitous within the
  Order.
  4 Think carefully about the ramifications of suc-
  cess or defeat in pursuit of the discovery.
  5 Don’t let the players bully you.
  6 Don’t forget that any discovery not learned
  during a player character’s apprentice years
  must be studied. (As described on page 86
  WGRE)
  7 Make an effort to allow the troupe to find
  guaranteed insight from outside sources if
  they work hard to find it (as described on page
  86 WGRE).
  8 Remember that all the rules are just mechanics
  and shouldn’t totally dominate the story but
  instead provide a framework that you as the
  storyguide use as an aid.
  9 Have fun, and throw the players for a loop
  when non-player characters use their discovery
  against them.
  All game mechanic information dealing with the
  discoveries will be made obvious by use of bullets.
  Optimization
  This a great tool to allow formulaic spells in the
  books to stay at their level while changing the spell
  guidelines. Many people I have talked to have com-
  plained about Imaginem spells, such as invisibility
  being far too easy, and have told me about all sorts of
  complicated changes they have made. That’s fine for
  spontaneous spells or newly invented formulaic
  spells, but what about the character that is already
  written up and has used the spells before in game,
  and as a consequence of the change of guidelines
  can no longer cast the spell? Optimization! (See
  pages 83 and 84 of the WGRE)
  30
  
  The Minor Discovery
  This is something I’ve created for my game that
  bridges the gap between the incredibly difficult dis-
  coveries below and simply inventing new spells. It is
  really useful as something that allows the player char-
  acters to cut their teeth on something substantial that
  is within the range of a mature but not overly pow-
  erful magus.
  Minor discoveries are those that are well within
  the structure of Hermetic theory but just haven’t
  been developed, such as the first magus who invent-
  ed Harnessed Magic and other virtues that have
  spread throughout the order. Basically any discovery
  that you as the storyguide feel is within easy range is
  a minor discovery. Remember to err on the high side
  though, as detailed in the Wizard’s Grimoire Revised
  Edition.
  Researching minor discoveries uses the same
  structure as other discoveries with the following dif-
  ferences:
  1 Developing the initial theory has an ease factor
  of 12. (See page 85 WGRE)
  2 Three pawns of vis are used during each sea-
  son’s test. (See page 85 WGRE)
  3 The control roll’s ease factor is -3. (See page 86
  WGRE)
  4 One volume must be written for others to use
  the discovery. (See page 86 WGRE)
  The example for this category is making available
  to the Art of Vim the ancient power of cursing.
  By introducing this discovery into an existing
  game in which magi have the Cursing +4 Virtue, the
  storyguide could demean its value. A good way to
  handle that is for the storyguide to provide the
  research volume as part of an adventure with some
  curse spells. Also, the storyguide can give the magus
  formulaic spells of their favorite curses that they
  have used in the game, as they intuitively know how
  to “invent” them.
  Other ramifications should be minimal and not
  affect the game overmuch. This is the hallmark of
  the minor discovery.
  - Ritual curses can only be lifted magically by
  using a Perdo Vim ritual designed to counter
  rituals.
  - Calculate the ease factor of a curse using the
  rules for cursing in Land of Fire and Ice on
  pages 57 to 59. This total provides the general
  level of the ritual which can be modified by
  changing the basic ranges, durations, and tar-
  gets as normal.
  - The formulaic spells using this discovery must
  by necessity be generic in some ways. Pick one
  of the options under Curse Ease Factor mod-
  ifiers (Base 7) on page 58 of LoFaI. Also, pick
  one of the categories under Conditions for
  Curses on the same page. Poetic justice is not
  calculated into the spell level.
  - The target of the spell gets a natural resistance
  roll with an ease factor based on how appro-
  priate the curse is and what it is affecting. A
  curse that has a poor poetic justice has an ease
  factor of 6, an average curse has an ease factor
  of 9, and a suitable curse has an ease factor of
  12.
  - Depending on what the curse affects, the tar-
  get uses the appropriate characteristic, such as
  a curse that makes you clumsy uses Dexterity
  - +1 Virtue, Cursing Magic: Non Ex Miscel-
  lanea witches may take this discovery at char-
  acter creation along with curse spells.
  An example curse using these rules is shown
  below.
  The Swordsman’s Bane (CrVi 31)
  R: Near, D: Sun/Perm, T: Individual
  Spell Focus: A bent dagger (+3)
  With this spell a witch curses a warrior to always
  roll 0 with a single combat skill. The storyguide
  should judge the appropriateness of the curse on
  how good a swordsman the target is. The better the
  swordsman, the higher the natural resistance ease
  factor. If the target is not using a sword then the ease
  factor for the natural resistance is lowered one step.
  The Characteristic used on the natural resistance roll
  is Dexterity.
  The condition to counter the spell is simply to
  make an oath to never threaten the witch again.
  A botch with this curse will possibly cause a back-
  lash, with the caster being cursed in an appropriate
  ability until they make an oath to never threaten the
  original target.
  Spell Design: 7 (base) + 14 (single ability always
  0) + 0 (easy lifting condition) +10 (changing Range
  from Touch to Near) = 31.
  Story Seed
  A passionate young witch is going around curs-
  ing mundanes who offend her. Several magi have
  disappeared near the area of her covenant possibly
  because of mundane retaliation against magi. The
  Quaesitores are currently overwhelmed with too
  many things to investigate, so as a result ask the
  player characters to check it out.
  Those fools! They seek to tear the passion
  out of magic and make it a cold, dead thing.
  I will show them that Hermetic magic can be
  enhanced by us! Come my sisters let us work
  together and we shall show that Tremere
  toad what witches can do with magic.
  A speech given to her coven after a particularly
  difficult Tribunal at Stonehenge by Ardrianna filia
  Aife follower of Ex Miscellanea.
  31
  
  The Major Discovery
  This is a major discovery because Callixto has
  taken a faerie magic Range and incorporated it into
  normal Hermetic theory. This allows any magi who
  don’t have faerie magic to use the Symbol range. (See
  page 136 WGRE for information on the Symbol
  Range)
  The reason for Penetration to be a Requisite for
  spells using this discovery is that an understanding of
  the connections between things is necessary, for the
  caster is using that information to help create and
  maintain the link between the locations that are com-
  ing together. Also, by having that as a requisite it
  encourages higher Penetration scores and makes it a
  little harder to just jump in and use this magic.
  Instead it may take some work and some practice
  before that becomes possible. In addition, on the Ars
  Magica Berkeley List I’ve heard a few people com-
  plain that Penetration doesn’t do anything worth-
  while and should be eliminated, so here is something
  that makes it useful.
  The ramifications to this discovery are many. If
  this becomes common then magi will not often trav-
  el by mundane means, eliminating several types of
  stories and exposure to the mundane world. With
  this, information will spread quickly and easily and
  might spell the end of House Mercere’s usefulness
  and severely weaken their powerful mercantile base.
  - The game mechanics of using this discovery
  with standard Hermetic magic is that the caster
  Salvete! Callixto filius Artemisia of House
  Tremere is well known for his martial skill
  and as a master and champion of Certamen,
  but until now he has not been known for his
  magical or inventive skills. With this discov-
  ery and the two spells using it, he has opened
  the potential for every major covenant to
  have a link to every other major covenant.
  Think of how this will help our Redcaps in
  their duties and the possible ramifications to
  trade, for this is not as beyond the reach of
  most mature magi as Hermes Portal is. May
  all know that Callixto of the Line of Muj is
  in my favour.
  From a missive by Roto Primus of House
  Tremere to all Tremere in the Order.
  32
  
  must have a Penetration score equal to 1/2 of
  the magnitude of the spell.
  - This range is equivalent to Arcane Connection
  because of the above. With faerie magic it is
  normally two magnitudes higher.
  - +2 Virtue, Symbolic Magic: At character cre-
  ation non-Tremere magi can start with this dis-
  covery and spells invented with this range.
  Along with this discovery are two linked spells
  that utilize the Symbol Range below.
  Anchoring the Magical Beacon (ReTe 50)
  R: Symbol, D: Permanent, T: Room, Ritual
  Spell Focus: A silver bell with an opal handle (+5)
  Requisites: Vim and a Penetration score of 5
  This spell uses a precise and complex design
  (Symbol) to anchor a magical beacon to a specially
  prepared room. This room must be spare and must
  be kept as identical as possible to when the spell was
  originally cast, for the safety of the magi teleporting.
  A mural, tapestry or even a mandala are appropriate
  types of anchors though anything will work as long
  as it is unique and semi-permanent. This ritual cre-
  ates a magical mirror of the design and the room that
  resonates with its physical components; this fulfills
  the requirement that all spells with the Symbol Range
  have two descriptors. Once this is done, a magus can
  use The Beacon’s Transferal to transmit themselves
  across vast distances. If the spell focus is used it must
  be rung during the ritual to align the vibrations of its
  sound to that of the physical and magical mirrors.
  Also, the bell may never leave the room; if it does
  then the spell fails.
  When Callixto of the Line of Muj casts this spell,
  the bell rings and sounds almost like a large cat
  screaming (or singing as he says) as his sigil is that of
  a panther.
  The Beacon’s Transferal (ReCo 30)
  R: Personal/Touch, D: Momentary, T: Individual
  Spell Focus: A miniature copy of the beacon’s
  design (+2)
  Requisites: Terram and a Penetration score of 3
  This spell allows the caster to teleport to a bea-
  con’s location. The caster links to the Symbol/Bea-
  con until they are both in alignment, allowing the
  transfer. The caster must have a near perfect memo-
  ry of the Beacon for a successful teleportation.
  Often, magi cast Wizard’s Flash of Memory (InMe
  15, page 169 WGRE) before casting this spell to deal
  with this issue. To completely remember the Symbol
  without any magical aid requires an Intelligence +
  Memory* roll against an Ease Factor of 9. The
  Virtue Visual Eidetic Memory gives a bonus of +3 to
  the total (under +3 virtues page 45 ArM4). After
  spending two minutes focusing on the Symbol, the
  caster adds their Concentration score to their total.
  Beacons that have the Spell Focus have an
  added safety factor because the silver bell rings
  before the caster’s arrival to warn people out of the
  room. Failure while casting this spell because of not
  remembering the symbol, losing concentration
  while casting, or any other reason can have very bad
  consequences.
  *See page 116 of Kaballah, or page 94 of The Mys-
  teries for more information about the Art of Memo-
  ry +1 Virtue.
  The Extraordinary Discovery
  On page 254 of the Ars Magica 4th Edition Core
  book it states that demons are completely immune to
  fire. This discovery changes that “fact”.
  The Flambeau have always been irritated that any
  entity could be immune to their greatest power but
  since they don’t have the tendency to be scholars,
  they have failed to discover a way to bypass infernal
  defenses. I made the level of discovery extraordinary
  since it is pushing the limits and because it would
  have had to be hard to do otherwise it would have
  already been done.
  I like the idea of demons being a little leery of the
  Flambeau for it partially explains why they don’t tend
  to openly attack too many covenants when it would
  seem to be in their best interest to eliminate their
  competition. It also explains how hard the demons
  try to corrupt House Flambeau and adds a new per-
  spective on the story arc of the Shadow Flambeau
  from the Tribunals of Hermes: Iberia book.
  Possible ramifications of allowing this discovery
  into your game could be as said above: it could cause
  demons to either flee from or be drawn to Flambeau
  Excerpts from The Divine Flame by Soliel
  filius Lumena of House Flambeau
  The Tytali have succumbed to the powers of
  darkness in their ploy for power and we Flambeau
  have found once again that the demons were
  immune to our powers. So after my discovery of
  the papyrus of Lyon with the aid of 7 sodales from
  Val Negra…
  … By tapping into the essential nature of flame
  with its creative and destructive power in balance,
  this “true” Fire can harm demons by in effect dam-
  aging their very core of being. Since demons are by
  nature destruction, corruption, and entropy they
  can’t handle the power of creation ripping apart
  their “caligo”…
  … And He of the Sure Hand had given me
  insight by merging the arts of Iignem and Vim…
  …Now with this discovery, never again will
  demons dare to challenge the Order for House
  Flambeau will stop them! As long as we stand
  together and the Shining One smiles benevolently
  upon us then diabolists and their masters will cringe
  in terror…
  Story Seed
  A faction of magi finds a weakness in the Bea-
  con magic allowing them to pinpoint the teleporta-
  tion of magi by their sigils. Now they are working
  on a way to make fake Beacons that will allow them
  to “hi-jack” any particular magus when they tele-
  port via the Beacon.
  33
  
  magi. Giving the Flambeau the power to defeat
  demons more easily means they are more likely to
  underestimate the more intelligent demons with
  longer viewpoints. Plus Flambeau with their “fiery”
  personalities may be very vulnerable to Psy-
  chomachia. An interesting adventure seed would be
  demons using a Flambeau magus to eliminate their
  diabolic enemies without incurring the wrath of the
  Hierarchy of Hell.
  - This discovery allows magi to use the Art of
  Ignem to make “true” flame that harms phys-
  ical or embodied demons. There are no
  requirements or requisites to use this break-
  through.
  - +1 Virtue, True Flame: Non Flambeau magi
  may start the game with this discovery.
  - -1 Flaw, Impure Flame: Flambeau magi may
  start without this discovery at character cre-
  ation.
  Breakthrough Discovery
  This is by far the most complex discovery
  because I “really” didn’t want it to be easy at all. The
  Limit of Creation is the most dangerous to game bal-
  ance. With all the requirements, it becomes some-
  thing you could add to a game and few would notice.
  But those players that truly want to play healers can
  more easily do so without hurting the rest of the
  game. Other ramifications could be that less vis is
  being used up by healing magics thus increasing the
  availability of vis to magi, since demand has
  dropped. Maybe it might even lower the high value of
  Corpus vis on the Verditius trade network.
  Without these restrictions then, magical healing
  would be much more common and I feel it would
  lead to the same kind of complacency found in many
  other role playing games when dealing with injuries.
  The kind of viewpoint that trivializes the danger of
  combat such as; “I just got my arm chopped off. Oh
  well, I still have 10 hit points so I’ll just chug a heal-
  ing potion”. If you have ever taken a serious wound
  you wouldn’t be so casual and cavalier. With my Ars
  Magica games, the player characters are seriously
  worried every time they enter combat and at least
  one of the players mentions that they take a whole
  chirurgeon’s kit with healing herbs whenever the
  troupe travels.
  - The core Arts used in healing humans are Creo
  and Corpus, plus the following requisites.
  Intellego is used to perceive the nature of the
  Story Seed
  What if Soliel didn’t make available all the
  research he had made to everyone? The player char-
  acters find part of an old letter in an abandoned
  church written to a Brother Lucas of the Order of
  the Apotropaics by Soliel of Flambeau. None of
  the player characters have heard of such an order.
  Could these be diabolists or hidden holy magi with-
  in the church? (See Insert above)
  Divine Flame: A +5 virtue available through a
  secret society. This virtue allows the magus to learn
  or invent Ignem spells that combine with the Vim
  anti-demonic spells. Both spell effects must be of
  the same level and the “combined” spell acts as a
  single normal spell. These spells follow the normal
  rules on requisites. The storyguide should use com-
  mon sense in allowing logical combinations of
  spells. Also, magi with this virtue have a great
  understanding of the weaknesses of demons and
  diabolists, allowing them to double their Penetra-
  tion score with ALL of their magic against the
  infernally aligned.
  For example: Encompassing Ward of
  Flames
  (CrIgReVi 35) a newly invented spell based upon
  Circle of Encompassing Flames (CrIg 35) and Circular
  Ward Against Demons (ReVi 35) cast by a magus with
  this virtue would have one spell roll and if success-
  ful both effects would take place on one target cir-
  cle. Or a Pilum of Fire (CrIg 20) combined with
  Demon’s Eternal Oblivion (PeVi 20) would create a
  new spell Pilum of Demonic Oblivion (CrIgPeVi 20)
  which would weaken a physical demon’s Might and
  do normal spell damage.
  34
  A lecture taking place at the Collegium artis
  Mercurii
  Occultes: By perceiving the entirety of an injury
  and how it relates to the whole of an individual
  including the four humours of the body, the spirit,
  the soul, and the very vitality and will, the magus
  can begin the process of healing without vis! By
  manipulating with great skill the fluid vis that flows
  within various patterns, the healer can link with the
  injury.
  Rechnae: As Asclepius himself did, I am sure of
  it. The healer becomes ‘One’ with the wounded.
  Occultes: Exactly. Thus your energy and the tar-
  get’s energy enact a change in the very essence of
  the target’s health. Doing this correctly requires the
  healer to align the 5 primary organs, the 4 humours
  and the 3 spirits in such a way that they are in har-
  mony. This actually removes the injury from exis-
  tence and, as the healer is not forcing change, this
  discovery actually allows a permanent altering of a
  pattern without the actual expenditure of vis! At the
  end of the spell, the healer must break the connec-
  tion to the target in order to prevent an accidental
  backlash.
  Rechnae: Often when I am tapping into the radi-
  ant vis that is the Goddess’s blessing, a glow will
  radiate from my hands.
  Occultes: Yes! I think it is a byproduct of the
  drain of negative or harmful energy with the
  replacement of new, positive, healing energy. In a
  few of the test cases, my face was oddly lit up and
  was described as angelic by the patient.
  Occultes and Rechnae: We hope that this break-
  through is beneficial to the Order and to the pres-
  tige of the Houses Bonisagus and Bjornaer. Now
  we shall show you how it works.
  
  injury and to sense the fluid vis, Muto to allow
  slight shifts in the target’s pattern like altering
  blood flow, Rego to direct the flow of bodily
  energy, and Vim to allow the manipulation of
  radiant and fluid vis.
  - To utilize this breakthrough requires that the
  spell must be formulaic and incorporate the
  breakthrough. This means the formulaic spell
  must have been invented using the discovery.
  The caster must know the discovery either
  because of being an apprentice of one who
  knows it or because he or she has studied
  books on the topic.
  - To be able to cast any spell utilizing this break-
  through, the magus must have Finesse and
  Medicine scores equal to the magnitude of the
  spell. In addition the caster must have a Magic
  Theory score of 3 + the magnitude of the
  spell. This is because you must be able to
  understand how the human body works and be
  able to do the fine manipulation of magic
  required, all of which combines with an
  advanced knowledge of how and why magic
  works.
  - In order to link the healer to the target, body
  energy must be spent. One Fatigue level is
  spent to cast any spells utilizing this break-
  through. This is in addition to any fatigue that
  might be spent through failure of matching
  the spell level with your casting total.
  - All fatigue spent while utilizing this break-
  through is considered long term exertion.
  - All Body levels healed through this break-
  through require a loss of a matching Fatigue
  level by either the healer or the target.
  - While casting any spell that utilizes this break-
  through, the healer must take one minute per
  magnitude of the spell to study the injury, so
  as to learn how and what needs to be done. If
  the healer is interrupted at any time during this
  process, the spell must be cast again, though
  no fatigue is lost, because the link to the target
  has not yet been made.
  - Any spell utilizing this breakthrough requires
  the healer to use the Touch Range.
  - When casting one of these spells, the caster
  may begin to glow in strange ways and places.
  This could interact with your sigil and create
  some interesting effects.
  - +4 Virtue, Magical Healer: At character cre-
  ation magi may start with this discovery and
  may have invented spells utilizing it. The char-
  acter starts with a Medicine score of 4 and a
  Finesse score of 4.
  For Example, Bind Wound (page 122 ArM4) using
  this discovery:
  Bind Wound (CrCo 10)
  R: Touch, D: Instant, T: Individual
  Requisites: Intellego, Muto, Rego, and Vim Arts.
  Medicine and Finesse scores of 2 and a Magic The-
  ory score of 5.
  Spell Focus: A poultice of healing herbs bound
  within a spider’s web (+3)
  After casting the spell and studying an injury for
  two minutes with Intellego magics and then by plac-
  ing your hands onto the injury, the healer draws in
  the radiant vis coming down from the heavens and
  creates a link between the healer and the injured tar-
  get. The fluid vis within the target is directed by you
  to seal and thus stabilize the injury as you slowly pass
  your hand over the wound. Any subsequent recovery
  rolls necessitated by the wound are made at +1. One
  long-term Fatigue level is lost to create the link to the
  target.
  Conclusion
  Allowing discoveries to be a part of your game, I
  feel, enriches the world created by the storyguide
  whether the player characters are changing that world
  or that world is changing independent of the player
  characters. For Mythic Europe is a living, breathing
  and “realistic” world that moves and shapes the envi-
  ronment the troupe finds themselves in and allows
  the player characters to interact and alter history
  itself. With such a grand theme, why leave the very
  best aspect of the game static and boring? In fact I
  propose that even if you are hesitant to allow major
  discoveries into your game, you make an effort to
  show the use of and gossip about minor discoveries,
  new spells, new items and even old artifacts to
  breathe a richer fabric into the weave of your inter-
  pretation of Mythic Europe.
  As you can see, with the clever use of require-
  ments even a discovery breaking a Limit can be made
  without totally changing the way Ars Magica is
  played. Hopefully with these examples and my sug-
  gestions, you will have the know-how to carefully
  allow discoveries into your game. I would like to
  thank Alexander White for his advice and Sheila
  Thomas for her fine editing. Good Luck!
  Story Seed
  The Asclepiads learn this discovery and start a
  massive healing campaign. Now that precious vis
  doesn’t have to be spent on healing, the strongest
  of the secret society can heal much more than a
  dozen people a week from horrible afflictions.
  Because of the “glowing” side effect, many of the
  cured think of the magi as saints or angels.
  The Quaesitores are investigating this and seem
  overly pleased with any information provided about
  this situation because of its possible violation of
  the Code. After the investigation, all the Asclepiads
  are forced to cease the healing campaign or face tri-
  al. Then a couple of years later, a rash of murders
  takes place and the player characters find out they
  were all Asclepiads. What if the player characters
  had been friends or allies of the Asclepiads? Will
  they care or let the Quaesitores handle it?
  35
  
  Omnibus Grimoire
  Scroll VI: Ignem
  by Andrew Gronosky
  Honored Colleagues and Brother Magicians,
  I
  t is with pleasure that I offer for your enjoyment
  and edification this sixth scroll in my collection
  of lesser-known spells from the libraries and gri-
  moires of the Order. It is my humble aspiration
  that by circulating these spells among the Order at
  large, I may encourage a renewed interest in the com-
  pilation and dissemination of formulaic spells.
  The Form of Ignem is avidly studied by certain
  specialists; indeed the House of Flambeau is almost
  as strongly associated with Ignem as is the House of
  Bjornaer with Animal. Yet because of its usefulness
  as a weapon, the Form of Ignem is sometimes dis-
  dained as the purview of the violent and unsubtle.
  This is a disservice both to our sodales in House
  Flambeau, and to the Form of Ignem itself. Those
  who scoff at Ignem as good for nothing but fighting
  and destruction overlook the simple fact that light
  and heat are essential to life itself. How can one dis-
  dain the candle that enables us to study after sunset,
  or the brazier that serves us in so many of our arcane
  experiments? Indeed, the Form of Ignem has myriad
  uses beyond the battlefield, as I hope to demonstrate
  with these few humble examples.
  May these spells reach you in good health, and
  prove useful to you in your studies and travels.
  Your colleague and servant,
  Jarius of House Mercere
  Creo Ignem
  Warmth of the Summer Sun (CrIg 4)
  R: Near, D: Sun/Moon, T: Individual/Group
  Spell Focus: Sunflower Petals (+1)
  Keep a person or creature comfortably warm,
  regardless of the air temperature. This spell is can-
  celled if the subject is affected by magical cold, such
  as a Perdo Ignem spell. At the storyguide’s discretion,
  other extreme cold conditions, such as falling into
  frigid water, may also cancel the spell. Sunflower
  petals represent the sun itself, and aid in the casting
  though the Law of Sympathy.
  Design: Heat an object so it is warm to the touch,
  Level 1. Increase Duration to Sun (+2 magnitudes)
  and Target to Individual (+1 magnitude).
  36
  
  Arrow of Flame (CrIg (Re) 10)
  R: Near, D: Diameter, T: Small/Group
  Requisite: Rego
  Spell Focus: A pinch of sulfur (+2)
  Cause a torch-sized flame to spring from the head
  of an arrow, spear, or javelin. The fire does not con-
  sume the arrow (hence the Rego requisite) but it can
  ignite combustibles that the arrow strikes. A living
  creature hit by a flaming arrow takes +5 fire damage
  in addition to the damage caused by the arrow itself
  (fire damage is described on ArM 4, p. 180). This
  magical flaming arrow is much more effective than a
  mundane flaming arrow because its flame is hotter
  and bigger.
  Design: Create a fire doing +5 damage, Level 5.
  Increase Duration to Diameter (+1 magnitude). Add
  a Rego requisite to prevent the arrow being burned
  up.
  Intellego Ignem
  Discern Flame from Figment (InIg 15)
  R: Sight, D: Momentary, T: Individual
  Spell Focus: A bit of foxfire (+3)
  Identify the source of any single light you see.
  The storyguide should describe the light source in
  one or two words, such as “A torch,” “A lighted win-
  dow,” “sunlight,” “a faerie,” and so on. If there are
  multiple light sources, you learn only the brightest. If
  the light source is a magical being, you must over-
  come its Magic Resistance to get any information. In
  spite of its title, this spell affects light, not fire. Obvi-
  ously, this spell is most helpful when it is dark.
  The origin of this spell is unknown but the man-
  uscript from which it was copied notes that its origi-
  nal intent was to distinguish faerie tricks from the
  lights of mortal civilization, to prevent traveling magi
  from being led astray.
  Design: Learn one property of light (treated sim-
  ilarly to learning one property of flame), Level 4.
  Increase Range to Sight (+3 magnitudes), reduce
  Duration to Momentary (-1 magnitude), and increase
  Target to Individual (+1 magnitude).
  Sense the Intruding Flame (InIg 25)
  R: Touch/Special, D: Sun/Year, T: Boundary
  Spell Focus: A parchment map or drawing of the
  target area (+2)
  You magically become aware of any fire that is
  started within or brought into the target Boundary.
  You know the fire’s source, location, size, and how
  fast it is growing. You must remain within the
  Boundary or the spell is cancelled, unless you use raw
  vis to boost Range. In that case, you may move any-
  where as long as you keep an Arcane Connection to
  a place inside the Boundary. This spell can be useful
  in guarding a magical forest from accidentally (or
  intentionally) being burned down, or making sure
  your apprentice doesn’t incinerate the laboratory
  when you’re not looking. Some covenants use this
  spell with boosted Range and Duration to protect
  their libraries: the combination of large amounts of
  parchment and magi who like to study by candlelight
  is a hazardous one.
  If you use the spell focus, a small image of the
  fire (visible to you only) appears on the map or draw-
  ing,
  Design: Learn all mundane properties of a fire,
  Level 5. Decrease Range to Touch (-1 magnitude),
  increase Duration to Sun (+1 magnitude), and
  increase Target to Boundary (+4 magnitudes)
  Muto Ignem
  Light of the Shining Beacon (MuIg 5)
  R: Reach/Sight, D: Sun, T: Small
  Spell Focus: A piece of sunstone (+2)
  Double the light of a Small fire, such as a lamp
  flame or a torch. The light illuminates twice the nor-
  mal radius and can be seen from twice as far away at
  night. The sunstone helps augment the brightness of
  the fire through the Law of Sympathy.
  Design: Change a fire so it is slightly unnatural,
  Level 5. Increase Duration to Sun (+1 magnitude)
  and decrease Target to Small (-1 magnitude).
  Flames of Infernal Heat (MuIg 10)
  R: Near/Sight, D: Concentration/Sun, T: Indi-
  vidual
  Spell Focus: A bellows (+2)
  Increase the heat of a fire to such a degree that it
  does damage as if it were one category larger; for
  instance, a torch would do damage as a campfire, or
  a campfire would do damage as a bonfire. (Fire dam-
  age is described on ArM 4, p. 180.) The fire cannot
  become hotter than molten lava, which is hot enough
  to melt bronze (but not iron). The actual size of the
  fire is unchanged. The additional heat also has other
  reasonable effects, such as helping the fire ignite
  harder-to-burn materials. Hotter fires also burn
  faster and spread faster than normal fires, at the
  storyguide’s discretion. Once the spell duration
  expires, the fire returns to its normal temperature.
  Design: Change a fire so it is slightly unnatural,
  Level 5. Increase Range to Near (+1 magnitude).
  Wondrous Unquenchable Fire (MuIg 15)
  R: Reach/Near, D: Sun, T: Small
  Spell Focus: Fish oil (+1)
  Enchant a small fire so it can burn underwater.
  The fire will still burn normally above water, but of
  course it cannot be put out by water and it will burn
  any fuel, no matter how wet. Underwater, the smoke
  from a fire takes the form of a stream of smoke-
  filled bubbles. If the fire grows larger than Small size
  (the size of a campfire), the spell ends.
  One of the obstacles to underwater exploration,
  besides the obvious need to breathe, is the need for
  light in the murky depths. This spell originated in the
  covenant of
  Llyn Ffawd, a highly enchanted
  covenant in the Stonehenge Tribunal that was com-
  pletely underwater (reports disagree on whether this
  covenant still exists). It was invented by the mad wiz-
  ard Eresk-ar, who subsequently titled himself
  37
  
  “Prometheus to the Fishes.” This spell is among the
  most practical of Eresk-ar’s many inventions.
  Design: Change a fire so it is completely unnatu-
  ral, Level 10. Increase Duration to Sun, +1.
  Perdo Ignem
  Quench the Perilous Flames (PeIg 15)
  R: Near, D: Momentary, T: Individual
  Spell Focus: A cupful of water (+1)
  Extinguish any fire up to the size of a bonfire.
  This spell has recently been rediscovered in a long-
  forgotten grimoire in Val-Negra covenant. It enjoys
  great popularity, as it is helpful in controlling both
  laboratory accidents and the effects of wayward Creo
  Ignem spells. A variant of this spell exists with Tar-
  get: Structure (Quench the Raging Conflagration, Level
  25). If using the spell focus, throw it toward the fire.
  Design: Extinguish a fire, Level 5. Increase Range
  to Near (+1 magnitude) and increase Target to Indi-
  vidual (+1 magnitude).
  Mansion of Chill and Darkness (PeIg 20)
  R: Touch, D: Momentary, T: Structure
  Spell Focus: A candle snuffer (+2)
  Instantly extinguish all non-magical fires and light
  sources inside the target Structure. Large fires, such
  as an uncontrolled fire that may be burning down the
  building, are not affected.
  Design: Extinguish a fire, Level 5. Increase Target
  to Structure (+3 magnitudes).
  Enchantment of the Black Flames (PeIg 25)
  R: Reach, D: Sun, T: Individual
  Spell Focus: A black cloth (+1)
  Eliminate the light of a fire, changing the flames
  from orange and yellow to shades of grey and black.
  The heat of the fire is unaffected. The fire will
  remain hot but dark no matter how large it grows;
  seeing a bonfire or house fire affected by this spell is
  very eerie. Any new fires kindled from the dark fire,
  such as a torch lighted from it, are nonmagical and
  give off light as normal. If using the spell focus,
  throw the cloth over the fire to symbolically conceal
  its brightness.
  Design: Destroy one aspect of a fire, Level 10.
  Increase Duration to Sun (+2 magnitude) and
  increase Target to Individual (+1 magnitude).
  Rego Ignem
  Deflect the Fiery Missiles (ReIg General)
  R: Personal, D: Concentration, T: Individual
  Spell Focus: A shield (+2)
  Fire spells are among the most common spells of
  attack known to the Order, so it is not surprising that
  a few specific spells have been designed as counter-
  measures. As long as you maintain this spell, you may
  deflect one hostile Ignem spell per round, as long as
  it uses some kind of medium to deliver damage
  rather than targeting you directly. For example, you
  could deflect damage from Pilum of Fire or Arc of
  Fiery Ribbons, but not Winter’s Icy Touch because
  the latter affects you directly. You must be aware of
  the hostile spell, the spell must be of equal or lower
  level, and you must beat your opponent’s Targeting
  roll with a Quickness + Finesse roll of your own.
  This spell was invented by Karsus, an early Arch-
  mage of House Flambeau, as a defense in case he
  ever fought Wizards’ War against a member of his
  own House. For generations, it was a guarded secret
  among Karsus’s descendents, but in the twelfth cen-
  tury it was “leaked” into common circulation.
  Design: There are no applicable spell guidelines,
  but that should never stand in the way of a good
  idea. The ad hoc rule for this spell was “Gen: Deflect
  an Ignem spell of level lower than this spell’s Level –
  5.” Decrease Range to Personal (-2 magnitude) and
  increase Target to Individual (+1 magnitude), so the
  effect becomes “deflect an Ignem spell of level low-
  er than this spell’s Level.”
  Enchantment of the Finicky Flames (ReIg 20)
  R: Reach, D: Sun, T: Individual
  Requisite: Muto
  Spell Focus: A bit of asbestos (+3)
  Change a fire so it can burn only one kind of
  material, which you specify when you cast the spell.
  The fire does no damage to anything other than that
  material, so you can (for instance) walk safely
  through an enchanted fire that can only burn wood.
  The fire continues to burn its current fuel but will
  not spread or burn new fuel unless it comes in con-
  tact with the correct material.
  Asbestos is a rare material that does not burn.
  According to legend, Charlemagne had a tablecloth of
  asbestos and he would throw it into a fire to clean it.
  Design: Control a fire in a slightly unnatural fash-
  ion, Level 10. Increase Duration to Sun (+1 magni-
  tude) and increase Target to Individual (+1 magni-
  tude).
  The Obedient Fire (ReIg 25)
  R: Near, D: Concentration, T: Special
  Spell Focus: A ruby (+3)
  Control the movement and spread of a fire. You
  can make it move slowly in a certain direction, make
  it burn its way up a wall, prevent it from harming cer-
  tain things, cause it to shrink or grow (subject to
  available fuel), and so on. You cannot make the fire
  move in a way a natural fire cannot move (for
  instance, you cannot make it cross water or leap
  through the air).
  Fires are notoriously difficult to control. If the
  fire gets large enough, controlling it may become
  overwhelmingly complicated. Use a Per + Concen-
  tration stress roll to maintain control. For each thing
  you are trying to make the fire do (or not do), add +3
  to the difficulty. Once the fire reaches the size of a
  house fire, it escapes your control completely and the
  spell ends.
  The ruby gives control over fire.
  Design: Control a fire in a slightly unnatural fash-
  ion, Level 10. Increase Range to Near (+1 magni-
  tude) and treat target as equivalent to Room (+2
  magnitudes).
  38
  
  The Art of History
  by Alexander White
  W
  hat is history? In Mythic Europe, his-
  tory is the ineffable expression of
  God’s will upon the world. God and
  the Divine are real, and they make
  themselves known and felt by influencing events.
  Every event from the Creation to the Crucifixion
  occurred for the very specific ends: the Second Com-
  ing, a real, inevitable and promised event. Interpreta-
  tion of history involved attempting to glean the will
  of God in order to understand the Divine Plan.
  The following is an excerpt from a fragmentary
  letter penned by an unknown Hermetic scholar to his
  friend, Ambrose of House Jerbiton. Researchers
  believe it was written shortly before the Schism War,
  but the letter was never delivered.
  Libellus ex Tempore
  To Ambrose, my dear friend and comrade.
  In response to your request for my views on his-
  tory, I have prepared for you a short pamphlet on the
  topic in the hope that it will enlighten and inspire
  you. Due to an on going laboratory experiment, I am
  unfortunately unable to delve into the detail you
  desired, and I hope this summary will suffice until I
  have more time.
  What is history?
  As we are told, the world is comprised over the
  World Spirit, the emanation of the second hypostasis
  of The Unconditioned. The world can be said to
  comprise of the All-Soul in that it is the first move-
  ment of the universe, the eternal cause of existence;
  all of the creation is its shadow. It is the sound made
  of all human speech, the concourse of all songs.
  Study of history, then, can be said to be the ulti-
  mate contemplation of the Divine Circle. It is the
  expression, or movement, of the World Spirit, played
  out upon the receptive and inert matter of earth.
  Human action within this is unknowing communica-
  tion and aspiration; every being desires to create an
  image of itself in the shadow of the Higher Being.
  Through application of our Reason, we are able
  to glimpse the threads or marks of passage left by the
  All Soul. This is what Cicero meant when he said that
  history is the witness that testifies to the passage of
  time. Because the All-Soul identifies with the highest
  principle of human existence, we can perceive the
  reality of existence and remember that knowledge to
  provide guidance to our daily life. Just as the Univer-
  sal Soul is present always and everywhere, so too is
  history a continuous never-ending passageway from
  our past to our present. The two, past and present,
  are linked perpetually as we are to the Infinite.
  The record of history seeks to record the human
  experience. In those records are set plainly for all to
  see, yourself, your countrymen, heroes and villains,
  kings and peasants, follies and wisdom. History is
  knowledge, and through the interpretation of experi-
  ence, it is translated into wisdom. Human self-knowl-
  edge, that is, knowledge gained through examination
  of the history of humanity through the faculty of
  Reason, grants the historian understanding of the
  Divine.
  To know history means to know oneself as a per-
  son, and the understanding of the type of person
  one is as unique from all others. This self-knowledge
  grants awareness of one’s capabilities. Since no one
  can know what they are truly capable of until they do
  it, the only clue we are given is what has already been
  done. History then teaches us what we are capable of
  by telling us what others have done.
  Through history, then, we learn what humanity is,
  and through this wisdom, we can perceive the
  Absolute. History therefore is a record, consciously
  or unconsciously, of our own position in time, com-
  prised of the accumulation of information or knowl-
  edge.
  The Historian
  To digress briefly, the historian must both eman-
  cipate himself from history, and simultaneously
  immerse himself entirely. The historian yields to his-
  tory, since to resist it would be to resist himself and
  the Infinite. By becoming one with the past however,
  the historian stands apart from it, viewing it as an
  internal outsider. In so doing, the historian experi-
  ences history and gains knowledge of it. The func-
  tion of the historian therefore is to understand the
  past, and through this comprehension, master it.
  Because history eternally flows from past to present,
  mastery of the past gives dominion over the present.
  Historical Knowledge
  How can we gain historical knowledge? Indeed,
  what makes up knowledge? Fundamentally, we know
  things for certain because of facts. Facts are the raw
  material of the historian and of history. Facts are
  used by the historian to form conclusions, but in and
  of themselves, facts are distinct from those histori-
  cal conclusions. They are experience. By applying
  our Reason to our Experience, we gain historical
  39
  
  knowledge. Importantly, we must dispel the notion
  of knowledge being innate. One is not born with all
  the facts, and it is only through gaining those facts
  that we can gain knowledge.
  Experience
  We experience things with our soul, through the
  principle of the Animate in which lies Sense-Percep-
  tion. Our faculties of perception are unable to grasp
  more than the impressions of sensible objects. Sen-
  sibility is a mere phantom of the Intelligible, that
  thing close to the Authentic Existence, the Ideal
  Form. By means of this, our soul wields lordship
  over the Animate. Through discursive reasoning, we
  can perceive the truth of objects although our mean
  senses can fathom only its basest nature.
  It is therefore evident that we experience some-
  thing outside of ourselves. The act of sensing is pas-
  sive, and belongs to the physical world. The act of
  experiencing something in this way can be called sen-
  sation, and it is here that we accept the ideas of hard-
  ness, colour, loudness, taste, temperature and so on.
  Reflective experience is distinct, and is formed by our
  own internal experience, the sensation of the self.
  From this reflection comes awareness, remembrance,
  thought, and imagination.
  Everything we know and believe is formed from
  reflection and sensation. Experiences such as pleas-
  ure, existence, unity, are formed when the two, reflec-
  tion and sensation, combine. However, it is funda-
  mental that nothing can be known without first being
  sensed.
  Reason
  Plato has distinguished between logos and
  mythos: an explicit rational account that combines
  with belief to form accurate knowledge of a thing’s
  essence; and a story with figurative significance. As it
  is written, Reason is the intellectual ability to appre-
  hend the truth. We understand now that reason does
  not require belief to be rational. Reason combined
  with experience gives us knowledge of the essence of
  a thing. Reason encapsulates the subsumption of all
  concepts of rules of comprehension, of conception
  and of judgement. To use one’s reason is to flex that
  part of the soul that is characteristic to the normal
  nature of humanity. Its act is Discursive, knowing
  not through the instantaneous or unmediated True
  Knowledge of the Intellective Soul, but through
  experience of sensation and judgement of those
  senses.
  It is clear that access to Reason is not innate,
  although all have the capacity for reason. This is in
  the same way that we are all connected via our Intel-
  lective Soul to the Universal Soul, but to access it, a
  life of philosophical morality is needed to identify
  oneself with his own higher principle. By observing
  the actions of children, or those who are dull or idi-
  otic, we witness that reason is not innate, as they have
  no apprehension or thought within them. They have
  souls and minds, but reason is not imprinted on
  them. Although the Rational Soul is a part of all, it is
  separable from the Life-Principle and like the Intel-
  lective, need not be an innate part of a person.
  Making History
  By thinking of and recording history, we make it.
  History therefore is a construct of the mind, distinct
  from the processes, the events and activities that
  resulted in the thought. There are consequences of
  this, as human agency constructs the past as contin-
  uously as the future transforms into the present. We
  must remember that where it is written that the Word
  caused existence, it refers to the conceived word: the
  Idea, Logos, or the Second Principle. This ability to
  transform ideas into actuality is one of the greatest
  gifts granted to us; intellection becomes reality.
  Through our consideration we cause history to be
  made.
  The Dialectic
  The dialectic of history is the realisation of a sin-
  gle, simple essence, as reflected in the various parts
  of the whole, making up society and, obviously, his-
  tory. This is of course the end result of the dialectic:
  the Absolute. To reach this state of unity however,
  history goes through a process of conflict, and the
  forces coming into conflict are opposing ideas.
  Resultant of this conflict is a synthesis of ideas,
  which in turn comes into conflict with another idea
  or ideas, and so on, until a final, perfect idea is
  reached.
  This can be seen in evidence from the past. Ideas
  of polytheism came into conflict with that of a sin-
  gle supreme divinity. The resultant synthesis of these
  two ideas was the Hellenistic henotheism of Plato
  and the Greek philosophers. Society has also under-
  gone changes through dialectical change, moving
  from the Roman Imperium to the current order of
  the Divine Right of Monarchs.
  It is important to remember that this dialectic is
  not always taking us to a higher state, and it occurs
  neither easily, simply nor smoothly; it is combined
  but uneven. As we know, concepts of polytheism
  and pantheism still remain today, with veneration of
  spirits and faeries. So too does the slave-based socie-
  ty of Rome still linger in some parts of the world,
  contiguous with the vassalage of feudal relations.
  Furthermore, it is clear that the conflict between the
  Christian Western Empire and the pagan barbarian
  invaders resulted in a decline rather than a forward
  moving historical process.
  The dialectic of history is a battle between
  opposing ideas, with victory never certain between
  any given higher or lower idea. Ultimately however,
  history is taking us to an End. The supremacy, for a
  time, of baser concepts merely forestalls and delays
  that End; it cannot prevent it.
  Can we know anything?
  Do we draw conclusions from the facts, or do we
  have conclusions to which the facts fit? Is there a
  separation between subject and object? Clearly a fact
  is an experience as distinct from conclusions. Histo-
  ry could therefore be said to consist of a corpus of
  40
  
  ascertained facts. We of course accept that knowl-
  edge of a thing (whether event, object or idea) is not
  independent of the mind that knows it. One of the
  fundamental principles is of names for example
  demonstrates that knowledge of something’s name
  grants deep knowledge of the possessor of the
  name. By existence independent of the mind, what is
  meant is an unknown reality. As it is proven, the only
  true unknown reality belongs to the Absolute; we can
  know anything else by use of our Intellect as those
  things are part of the created world.
  What this means is that object and subject are
  linked, just as our Intellect and our bodies are linked.
  They are not one and the same; they are distinct, but
  they form a unity. In the case of facts, we make a dis-
  tinction between an experience — something exter-
  nal that affects us — and our conclusion derived
  from that experience — the internal process of gain-
  ing knowledge from that experience. We can there-
  fore objectively know something.
  Objections
  Many of my opponents have posed to me that
  that we can never truly know something outside our
  own minds. Any reality independent is unknowable
  and therefore subjective. This is trivially true, in that
  by definition we cannot know the unknown, because
  as soon as we know something, it becomes known.
  When I talk of independence of the mind, I of
  course refer to our own minds, and to objects and
  events that exist whether or not they are known. We
  must remember of course our first principles: that
  the world is comprised of the World Spirit, and is
  known by the First Mind. Both of these exist
  whether or not anyone is aware of them. They are
  our objective, independent reality, forming both the
  known and the unknown.
  Esoteric Colleges
  There are two esoteric colleges who have a spe-
  cial interest in the study of history. They are the Col-
  lege of the Light, and the Academy of Reason. Both
  College and Academy are linked, as the Academy was
  formed during the ninth century when certain mem-
  bers split from the College over a disagreement over
  the organisation’s objectives. The majority of those
  who split lived or were trained in Egypt or the Mid-
  dle East; those remaining in the College were Hel-
  lenistic and Italian, with a few Spaniards. It should be
  remembered that members of both the Academy
  and the College are very few in number, totalling no
  more than twenty-five members at most. Neverthe-
  less, most members are over one hundred years old,
  and include two or three arch-mages.
  The College of the Light
  The College of the Light is a fraternity whose
  members seek to make a complete and entirely accu-
  rate record of history, from beginning to end. To this
  end, they are among the Order’s most erudite
  researchers in Intellego magic aimed at looking into
  the past. Collegial members aim to use their knowl-
  edge of humanity to gain an intimate knowledge of
  themselves, and thus of the Mind of God. Unlike
  many other theoreticians who attempt this through
  either their Intellect or Reason, these Collegians seek
  to use knowledge to gain enlightenment.
  Symbol: The Lighthouse of Alexandria
  Motto: Ab Initio Exactus (From Beginning to
  End)
  Membership/House Affiliation: Flambeau,
  Guernicus, Jerbiton. Membership is made up prima-
  rily of scholars engaged in deep and protracted study;
  however, most members make an attempt to be kept
  aware of current trends and events. Thus most mem-
  bers maintain close links with House Mercere and
  It is believed by many within House Bonisagus
  that certain members of the College of the Light
  managed to break the Hermetic Limit of Time, not
  only to be able to more clearly and easily witness
  the past, but to also affect it with magic. Currently
  in the Greater Alpine and Rhine Tribunals, there is
  a major attempt by House Bonisagus to determine
  the validity of this claim and to force the College to
  release this discovery. These rumours are strength-
  ened by claims that a century ago the most senior
  Collegians, in order that the discovery not be
  leaked, purged the few members of House Bonisa-
  gus who were in the College.
  41
  
  may interact with networks of informants, in addi-
  tion to remaining in contact with each other.
  Goals and Practices: The College of Light
  believes that it is possible and even desirable to cre-
  ate a complete record of history. This involves
  scrupulous and exacting study of every available his-
  torical resource, although largely concentrating on
  textual remains. Many members go out of their way
  to track down manuscripts believed lost, and most
  have gone on explorations of ancient ruins, or exca-
  vated areas in cities or settlements in order to learn
  more about the events that occurred there. After the
  examination of the evidence however, the Collegians
  will generally write about their discoveries and release
  them to other members for debate and comment.
  The result is often heated arguments between two
  opposing viewpoints as to the precise order or
  sequence of events or causes, which has seen one
  major schism within the College (the formation of
  the Academy of Reason), but more often long-term
  grudges and bitterness.
  Hierarchy: There is no formal hierarchy within
  the College of Light, since most members are old,
  venerable and magically mighty. Respect is gained
  through the proclamation to other members of new
  discoveries or insights, and also by the number of
  published manuscripts that have been disseminated
  to other members. In the past the College of Light
  followed the teacher-pupil hierarchy; while this is still
  common, it has been absorbed into the parens-filii
  system used by the Order of Hermes at large.
  Virtues Taught: Affinity with Intellego, Affinity
  with Mentem, Art of Memory, Pious or Natural
  Magic (suggest Erik Dahl’s Deus Ex Magica in HP#3)
  Academy of Reason
  Like the College of the Light, the Academy of
  Reason seeks to make an accurate record of history.
  The Academy however believes that through com-
  plete knowledge of history, the laws governing
  human behaviour can be gleaned, and controlled.
  Within the Academy exists a small faction that holds
  that this knowledge will not only grant them control
  over humanity (using history as a powerful arcane
  connection), but using the idea of humanity as
  microcosm, they will be able to control God!
  Symbol: A human figure encompassed by three
  concentric circles
  Motto: De Facto Deo (Existing in Fact and God)
  Membership/House Affiliation: Membership
  within the Academy is very selective, and for the past
  century has stagnated as older members are unwilling
  to open the doors to new members. Most active
  members belong to House Criamon, Ex Miscellanea,
  and Tremere, and reside primarily in the Middle East,
  or at least originate from there.
  Goals and Practices: The goals and practices of
  the Academy of Reason are among the most secre-
  tive of the Order. A larger part of the Academy
  wishes to use an accurate record of history in order
  that they may gain control over the Laws of Nature,
  following the premise that knowledge of something
  grants power over it. Since this goal would violate the
  Code’s prohibition on interfering with mundanes, the
  Academy keeps all of its activities very closely guard-
  ed. Most of their members therefore are vocal cam-
  paigners on the issue of the inviolate nature of the
  sanctum. A much smaller and more militant group
  within the Academy believes that the same laws that
  govern humanity can be used to grant power over
  God. This concept is obviously heretical (even more
  so than the beliefs of both the Academy and College
  of the Light) and would certainly endanger not only
  the Academy, but also the Order itself were news of
  this desire somehow to manage to leak out to the
  Church. The Academy’s practices are nearly identical
  to the College of the Light, in that they engage in
  study of sources and often engage in fieldwork and
  hands-on investigation.
  Hierarchy: More so than the College from which
  it derived, the Academy maintains a strict order
  based on the supremacy of age and sagacity. The old-
  est member of the Academy is referred to as ‘Father’
  (regardless of the mage’s gender), and has the
  responsibility of educating his ‘Sons’. Members call
  each other ‘Brothers’ (regardless of gender), with
  younger brothers expected to respect and obey their
  Because of their long contact with non-Her-
  metic wizards and sorcerers, the Academy is on the
  cusp of integrating into Hermetic magic certain
  aspects of non-Hermetic theory. The most impor-
  tant of these is the sahir’s ability to gain Familiarity
  with spirits. One particular Academy member
  believed he managed to gain a Familiarity with
  God. His sudden and dramatic disappearance dur-
  ing the Siege of Damietta in Egypt has caused
  many within and without the Academy to ask what
  precisely he had discovered, and why he disap-
  peared. More important for some within the Acad-
  emy is the possibility of discovering his notes, lost
  during the siege. Rumours insist that the notes have
  managed to find their way south into Upper Egypt,
  although details are obviously vague.
  42
  
  older brothers, and older brothers in turn supposed
  to protect and provide for their younger brothers.
  Virtues Taught: Affinity with Intellego, Penetra-
  tion Mastery, Art of Memory, Hermetic Theurgy
  Conclusion: A Manifesto
  This article is an exercise in anachronism. It takes
  various views on history, empiricism, positivism and
  dialectics, mixes those with a dose of Neo-platonism,
  and puts them in an Ars Magica context (it also
  makes use of some atrocious Latin). In a nutshell,
  certain historians believed that by experiencing and
  interpreting events in the present and past, the uni-
  versal laws of human nature could be discovered.
  According to positivists, there are only two sources
  of knowledge, logical reasoning (such as mathemat-
  ics) and empirical experience. Positivists, as philoso-
  phers of science, held that genuine theories of histo-
  ry must include laws that can be used to predict
  future events, in the same way that astronomers use
  the laws of motion to predict the movements of
  astral bodies. Empiricism (from the Greek empeiria,
  ‘experience’) is likewise predicated on all knowledge
  descending from experience, or that it derives from
  foundational concepts known intuitively from rea-
  son. Dialectics assumes a conflict of two (or more)
  competing ideas, the thesis and antithesis, which
  come into opposition and produce the synthesis,
  which in turn becomes the thesis, confronted by an
  antithesis and produces another synthesis. This
  process was guided and personified the Spirit of the
  Times, whose culmination results in the self-aware-
  ness of humanity, based on the realisation of the
  truths of incarnation, death, resurrection and for-
  giveness, among other things. Neoplatonism, the last
  attempt of paganism to ‘rehabilitate’ itself in the
  third century, developed a henotheistic doctrine of a
  Unified Triadic diety whose emanations comprised
  the totality of existence. Originating in Egypt, Neo-
  platonism drew its inspiration from various treatises
  by Plato; the most influential Neoplatonist was Plot-
  inus, and from his works (primarily ‘The Enneads’)
  and those of his disciples developed the praxis of
  theurgy.
  It should of course be noted that none of the
  above is in any way representative of medieval
  thought or philosophy. The notion of history in the
  thirteenth century is debatable and vague. Medieval
  scholars probably did not espouse Enlightenment
  concepts of reason and experience, and it is not like-
  ly that they ascribed to Neoplatonic concepts of the
  Soul or of God (although Neoplatonic influences are
  present in St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and oth-
  ers).
  As noted, this article’s goal was anachronism, and
  to show that historicity in Ars Magica is a flexible
  concept at best. Under debate for over a century (at
  least) is the very notion of what history is, what facts
  are, and how we can know things. When presented
  with the notion that ‘medieval people did or did not
  do or believe or practice this or that’, it would be wise
  to challenge its philosophical underpinnings. Just
  how can we know what happened in the thirteenth
  century?
  Given this, I believe that Ars Magica should defi-
  nitely experiment in anachronism more. The game
  and setting are already unhistorical, and make use of
  a fantastical magical system, not to mention that the
  assumption of the existence of magic and the super-
  natural. Fetishism of historical facts, historicity and
  accuracy should be avoided or even abandoned. We
  should strive for comprehension, coherence, conti-
  nuity, and above all, fun.
  Bibliography
  Plotinus, The Enneads, Penguin
  E. H. Carr, What is History?, Penguin
  G. R. Elton, The Practice of History, Sydney Uni-
  versity Press
  Roy Porter, The Enlightenment, Macmillan
  43
  Mystery Riddle
  Birth in the foam of the sea,
  Beauty in thought and memory,
  Journey, the grand destiny.
  Burned, consumed in flames.
  Rebirth from the ashes,
  Awakening in the smoke.
  Escaping from the mundane,
  Serious Upuaut opens the way,
  Ever faithful to the divine king.
  Gaze upon the map,
  Light upon the darkness;
  The keys hang from the belt.
  The apex is muddled,
  The stories are scattered,
  But the characters remain,
  For the wheel turns
  As Hamlet’s mill grinds.
  In the end, Atlas shrugs.
  
  Heretic’s Corner:
  Slicing the Gordian
  Knot
  by Michaël de Verteuil
  P
  erhaps that should be “Chopping the Gor-
  dian Knot”. In any case, for those of you
  who are wondering what happened to
  Heretic’s Corner in the last issue of Her-
  mes’ Portal, the column was assumed by Jérémy
  Provost’s article on a new Character Sheet. So this in
  fact is the 12th article in the series, the first having
  been published in the last issue of Mythic Perspec-
  tives. This instalment, on combat, is one many of
  you have been waiting for for too long, perhaps, as it
  may come too late to have any impact on ArM5
  which should be in the last stages of playtesting as
  you read this. Nevertheless, I still think the subject
  merits being kicked around, particularly as combat is
  the single weakest feature of ArM4. Besides, this
  heretic needs something to write about until the new
  edition actually gets published.
  Heretic’s Corner usually begins by trashing the
  rules it proposes to replace. Where the combat sys-
  tem is concerned, however, this is very much like
  flagellating the proverbially deceased equine. With
  the Ordo Nobilis revisions, I believe the ArM4 combat
  system may be (barely) playable, but it still isn’t pret-
  ty, elegant or straightforward. So I propose instead to
  offer a simplified and streamlined substitute. The
  reader can decide whether this new proposed pack-
  age meets the column’s objectives of simplicity, clar-
  ity, realism, and playability, and harmonizes well with
  the rest of the game rules and system.
  Combat is inherently complicated but, unlike
  magic, we all have (or claim to have) some idea of
  how it actually works (or should work). As the mag-
  ic in Ars is essentially fictional, we can freely develop
  simplifying assumptions, and then claim without fear
  of contradiction from realists and simulationists that
  these assumptions fully reflect the underlying (fic-
  tional) reality of magic in Mythic Europe. We can’t
  do this with combat, however, as combat actually
  existed outside of a fictional game context. All this to
  say that the simplifying assumptions presented in this
  article are “simplifying” assumptions, not attempts to
  simulate in every detail the underlying (authentic)
  reality of combat in medieval Europe. That said, the
  reader will also find a list of optional add-ons offered
  for those who like more spice with their combat.
  These add-ons are not meant to be comprehensive.
  Rather, they are guidelines on how this proposed sys-
  tem can be made more simulationist while respecting
  its underlying simplicity.
  The Combat Roll: The basic approach to hand-
  to-hand combat is simple and follows the standard
  game mechanic for a contest of Abilities. The play-
  ers representing both opponents roll a stress die and
  add their respective Weapon Skill + Weapon Combat
  Bonus + Qik. If you are facing multiple opponents
  in a round, you still get only one roll, which you
  apply, defensively to all opponents, and offensively to
  your designated target. Note that a character engaged
  in combat and able to defend himself and take meas-
  ures to avoid being hit still gets a roll, even if he is
  not actually in a position to hit his opponent for
  whatever reason. If you win your roll in this case, you
  don’t get hit, but then neither does your opponent.
  Damage: The winner of the contest (assuming
  the modified rolls are not tied) then adds the differ-
  ence between both Combat Rolls to Weapon Dam-
  age Bonus + Str, and compares it to the opposing
  Soak (which remains as currently defined in the
  ArM4 and Ordo Nobilis rules). For every five points of
  damage, a Body level is inflicted. Any additional car-
  ryover is lost (note that carryover from the Combat
  Rolls has already been applied to Damage). Also note
  that there are no minimum Strength requirements for
  weapons anymore under this proposed system.
  Bonuses for magical or unusually high quality
  weapons should normally apply only to Damage and
  not to the Combat Rolls themselves.
  In essence, that’s it. Table A provides a list of
  consolidated Skills and revised Bonuses for weapons
  commonly used in the 13th century. Note that virtu-
  ally all hand-held weapons have been consolidated
  into one Skill: Weapon. If used two-handed, the
  weapons listed under Weapon Skill receive an addi-
  Table A
  Skill (Weapon) Combat Damage Effective Range
  Cost
  Brawling
  fist/kick
  0
  +1
  Touch
  free
  rock*/gauntlet
  0
  +1
  Touch
  inexpensive
  knife*/sap
  +1
  +2
  Touch
  inexpensive
  dagger
  +1
  +3
  Touch
  inexpensive
  Weapon
  club*
  +1
  +2
  Reach
  inexpensive
  spear*
  +2
  +3
  Reach/
  inexpensive/
  Contact**
  standard**
  axe*
  +2
  +4
  Reach
  standard
  mace
  +2
  +5
  Reach
  standard
  sword
  +3
  +5
  Reach
  standard
  morning star
  +1
  +7
  Reach
  standard
  Sling
  hand sling
  +1
  +3
  Far
  inexpensive
  pole sling
  +2
  +3
  Far
  standard
  Bow
  short bow
  0
  +4
  Far
  standard
  composite bow
  +1
  +9
  Far
  expensive
  Crossbow
  light crossbow
  +2
  +10
  Far
  expensive
  heavy crossbow
  +2
  +12
  Far
  expensive
  * Can be thrown for standard Combat and Damage ratings.
  ** Pole arm or lance.
  
  tional +1 on Combat and +2 on Damage. Special
  two-handed versions of each of these exist, but these
  specialized weapons cannot be used one-handed or
  thrown. Instead they have additional +2/+4 bonus-
  es rather than +1/+2 and a higher expense rating
  (inexpensive to standard, standard to expensive). The
  lance (essentially a two-handed spear) is a special case
  as it is used one-handed from horseback, gaining yet
  an additional + on Damage from the Str and Siz of
  the horse when charging. On foot it counts as a pike,
  i.e. a two-handed spear with the standard additional
  +2/+4. All pole arms, i.e. specifically designed two-
  handed spears, have an effective range of Contact.
  But wait! What about Encumbrance, Initiative,
  Fatigue, Dex and shields?
  Encumbrance: There isn’t any. Well, actually
  there is. If you are holding your armour rolled and
  bundled up under your arm while fighting, feel free
  to add the indicated Encumbrance to your Combat
  Roll. Based on the contemporary experience of
  those who actually try physically to simulate fighting
  in armour, and after a careful search of the historical
  record, I can only come to the conclusion that except
  in very limited circumstances encumbrance due to
  weapons and armour does not negatively affect your
  ability to fight toe-to-toe. Note that I am referring to
  weapons and armour properly designed to this end.
  Improvised armour consisting of multiple layers, or
  of bulky objects strapped to your chest, would effec-
  tively encumber you. But when does this really
  occur? Encumbrance from armour and weapons
  does greatly affect your speed if you are running, and
  your ability to perform athletic feats (though proba-
  bly less than some people imagine). It is also quite tir-
  ing. But that’s pretty much it, though you might con-
  sider applying armour Encumbrance penalties (at full
  value, not 1/3 as in Ordo Nobilis) to archery Combat
  as well as to Fatigue Rolls.
  Initiative: Under this proposed simplified sys-
  tem, Initiative is not rolled for and only matters in
  determining at which of the three ranges (contact,
  reach, and touch) combat is taking place. Note that
  these ranges are not the same as those described in
  the ArM4 combat rules. Contact is within range of a
  lance or pole arm. Reach is within normal range of a
  sword or spear. Touch is close enough for the oppo-
  nents to be actually grappling with one another. In
  principle, the combatant with the longer-range
  weapon (as determined by these three categories) has
  the initial Initiative. If the weapons are equivalent,
  the combatant with the highest Quickness + Weapon
  or Brawl Skill (as appropriate) has the initial Initia-
  tive. If all else fails, initial Initiative lies with the one
  trying to get closest. After the first round, Initiative is
  accorded to whoever won the previous Combat Roll.
  Table B indicates the penalties for fighting outside of
  your effective range. Note that you can only have the
  Initiative with respect to one opponent at one time if
  you are fighting multiple opponents. The others
  invariably have the Initiative on you.
  Fatigue: It should play a role, but hardly anyone
  thinks that a Fatigue Roll each round of combat is
  the way to go. Aside from the compulsory Fatigue
  Roll on a natural Combat Roll of 0 described in
  Ordo Nobilis, the optional add-ons provided at the
  end of this article suggest two more ways in which
  Fatigue can be gained.
  Dexterity: In ArM4, Dexterity is used as the
  modifier for your Attack score whereas Quickness is
  used for Defence. For the purposes of simplifica-
  tion, and given that there is now only one Combat
  score, we should only use one Characteristic as a
  modifier. Very exceptional circumstances aside (such
  as an executioner trying to chop off with one blow
  the head of a prone victim whose neck is on the
  block), fine manual dexterity doesn’t really come into
  play in combat. Have you ever tried to pick up a pen-
  ny with a mailed glove? I know Dexterity is also sup-
  posed to include basic hand-eye coordination, but I
  am reasonably confident that Quickness, represent-
  ing agility, comes into play in combat more often.
  Note, however, that Dexterity should be a factor in
  archery. But more on that later.
  Shields: Defence can be understood, and is sim-
  ulated in roll playing games, in one of two ways:
  either as a reduced probability of being hit, or in a
  reduction in the damage suffered. In ArM4, shields
  and weapons do the former while armour does the
  latter. This just begs for simplification and the recog-
  nition that shields are a form of armour. This is the
  route adopted here. As for weapons, their defense
  modifiers have been subsumed in a comprehensive
  Combat rating. Table C indicates how much each
  type of shield adds to Soak. A common sense
  approach can cover cases, such as being attacked
  from the rear, where a shield would not contribute to
  Soak.
  To complete our picture, let’s look at a few more
  features that will round off the basic system.
  Brawling: When you don’t have a weapon, but
  must dodge a blow, this is what you use for your
  Combat Roll. If you do have a weapon, but your
  modified Brawling score would be higher (and you
  don’t care about hitting your opponent), feel free to
  use Brawling instead. Otherwise, Brawling is used as
  described in the ArM4 rules.
  Quarterstaff: ArM just can’t seem to get this
  right. It should be intuitively obvious that a quarter-
  staff is merely a spear without a pointy end, but
  Table C
  Shield
  Soak
  Cost
  round
  +2
  standard
  kite/tower
  +3
  expensive
  45
  Table B
  Effective
  Actual range
  range
  Touch
  Reach
  Contact
  Touch
  0
  NA
  NA
  Reach
  -3 Combat
  0
  NA
  Contact
  -6 Combat
  -3 Combat
  0
  
  apparently this wasn’t obvious enough for past edi-
  tions. Under the rules proposed here, all the weapons
  (including spear) listed under Single Weapon can be
  used two-handed for an extra +1 to Combat and +2
  to Damage. Since a quarterstaff doesn’t have a pointy
  bit, it is +3 to Combat and +0 to Damage instead of
  a normal spear’s net +3/+3 when used two-handed.
  Archery: Like the wearing of armour, combat
  archery is poorly understood. Players tend to assume
  that it always or usually involves sniping at opposing
  targets and have been deluded by modern archery
  contests and medieval reports that a longbow can
  slay at 200 meters into thinking that medieval bows
  can be shot accurately at that range. ArM4 inexplica-
  bly treats bows like guns. You just aim, use keen eye-
  sight (Per), and fire. Bang! Or swish! Or whatever!
  You get my point (figuratively). In fact, if you are an
  archer and sniping on the battlefield, you had better
  get ready to run because if you miss or fail to bring
  down your target, he is close enough to come after
  you.
  Long (i.e. Far) range use of combat archery and
  slings is practised in volleys. A bunch of archers or
  slingers takes general aim at an enemy formation
  (preferably of closely packed unarmoured oppo-
  nents). Some of the arrows or stones hit, some miss.
  At these distances you don’t need keen eyesight, and
  the keenest Perception will not compensate for drift
  caused by wind or minor irregularities in the shape of
  the arrow or sling. It’s all a question of Dexterity. For
  archery purposes, substitute Dexterity for Percep-
  tion, change the base Ease Factor from 6+ to 12+
  for volleys, and be prepared to give generous modi-
  fiers for hitting a random target if the defenders are
  in close ranks or tightly bunched. If some of the
  defenders are sheltering behind rocks, trees, fortifica-
  tions or the like, just modify their Soak accordingly.
  Otherwise, ignore all the modifiers for range, dodg-
  ing, aiming etc. If a target is hit, Damage is equal to
  [the margin of success over the Ease Factor +
  Weapon Damage Bonus + Str]. You can add Str even
  for crossbows. The stronger you are, the tighter you
  can wind the crossbow and the more powerful a
  crossbow you can use.
  Sniping is a bit different and only occurs at Near
  range. It can involve any missile, including thrown
  knives, axes, spears or rocks. If you know the missile
  is coming, you can dodge using Brawling (there is no
  point in dodging a volley except to run for shelter).
  Otherwise, or if your Brawling is really pathetic and
  you decline to use it, the base Ease Factor for the
  sniping archer, slinger or thrower is 6+.
  For rate of fire, use the Combat score (without
  the die roll), as Initiative scores don’t exist anymore.
  Oh, and leave those longbows in the 14th century
  where they belong. And if you don’t and really must
  have them, for reality’s sake (if not mine) ignore the
  silly “exploding, armour piercing longbow arrow or
  crossbow bolt head” optional rule in ArM4.
  Fighting from Horseback: This is spelled out in
  Ordo Nobilis but merits repeating. When fighting
  from horseback you use the lower of your relevant
  Weapon or Ride Skill. And yes, you can brawl from
  horseback. You can either attack yourself or, with a
  successful Ride roll, have your steed kick, bite or
  knock down an opponent (usually through charging,
  though this is often done in a melee by spinning the
  warhorse in place). If there is an available prone or
  supine target on the ground, however, you can, with
  a successful Ride roll, both attack another (standing
  or riding) target yourself while having your horse
  trample the unfortunate.
  That pretty well covers all the basics. Here are
  some optional goodies for those for whom the basics
  are never enough.
  Botches (optional): As a general rule, hand-to-
  hand fighting should involve at least three Botch
  dice, and even more if fighting in the dark, in the rain
  or on slippery or broken terrain. As a single botch, I
  would normally assign a Fatigue level, a dropped
  weapon or a smashed shield. On a double botch, you
  might fall to the ground and remain prone or supine
  until you can get up with a successful Brawling
  attack. On a triple botch, you might do 15+ (soak-
  able) Damage, with the appropriate Weapon and Str
  Damage modifiers, to yourself or a comrade. In a
  quadruple botch, you normally simply kill yourself
  or, if the storyguide is particularly cruel and an
  appropriate target is within range, kill an NPC dear-
  est to you or critical to the success of your adventure.
  You can use these as guidelines.
  Fatigue (optional): Besides Botches, and the
  Fatigue checks on a natural Combat Roll of 0 (sug-
  gested in Ordo Nobilis), here is another interesting
  idea for how to simulate fatigue in combat. Let a
  character suffering damage substitute two Fatigue
  levels (if he has at least two left) for the first Body
  level he would otherwise have had inflicted on him as
  a result of a given blow. (Warning! This is a last
  minute suggestion and has not been playtested.)
  Full Attack (optional): A character confident or
  desperate enough in a given round can declare a Full
  Attack, in which case both combatants can add +3 to
  their Damage score that round if successful. If both
  declare a Full Attack, the winner adds +6 (which can
  get very ugly!). Note that this is a great tactic to use
  if you grossly outnumber an opponent, as you and
  most of your berserk comrades will get the +3 if
  successful while your victim can only get it against
  one of you.
  Full Defence (optional): If you have announced
  this tactic for the round, you can subtract 3 from
  your opponents’ Damage Score, but may not your-
  self damage any of your opponents that round. This
  may be a good tactic to use when grossly outnum-
  bered and desperately hoping for your comrades to
  rescue you.
  Simultaneous Damage (optional): You might
  have lost or tied the Combat Roll, but even with a 0
  or negative carryover (assuming there is no Botch
  involved), your Damage score is still enough to over-
  come your opponent’s Soak. If you use this optional
  46
  
  rule, both of you can hit and even kill each other
  simultaneously. How fun! It also makes magical
  weapons and those with high Damage bonuses far
  more deadly.
  Striking from Above (optional): Levered and
  chain weapons with a weighted end, such as a mace,
  morning star or even a club, do an additional +3
  Damage when used from above, such as from horse-
  back, a castle wall, or a steep incline. Simply being a
  bit taller than your opponent should not qualify
  unless you have a 2+ Size advantage…
  Size and Extra-Large or Small Weapons
  (optional): The Damage modifiers given for each
  weapon are meant to apply to those designed for use
  by Size 0 characters. If your Size is greater and your
  weapon is appropriately larger, you can add up to
  your Size score to Damage. Giants, for example,
  would typically do this though they could normally
  only afford extra large clubs. (All that extra steel for
  an extra large mace can cost a lot of treasure.) You
  might also want to consider corresponding Damage
  penalties for weapons designed for little folk, and
  assign a -2 penalty per Size difference for use of
  weapons designed to be too big for a particular char-
  acter’s Size.
  Perception for Archery (optional): Yeah, yeah, I
  know. We have already established that keen eyesight
  is no real help in archery. But what about unusually
  poor eyesight? Add a character’s Perception score if
  it is negative to his archery Combat Roll.
  So that’s it for this issue. Being all too frequently
  in want of repose, I am still open to substitute and
  amateur heretics wanting to fill in for an issue or two.
  So if you have a simplifying or streamlining idea, just
  let Eric and me know, and we will even help you write
  it up and let you walk away with all the credit. We are
  that nice. ‘Til next time, then.
  47
  
  Coming in Issue #12 of
  Hermes’ Portal
  Prince of Magi: Osthanes
  by Alexander White
  Magic beneath the skin
  by David Woods
  Failed Apprentices
  in Mythic Europe
  by Mark Hall
  and your regular columns
  …
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Hermes' Portal/Hermes' Portal 11.pdf