Prologue (3k)
Chapter One: Designing Beasts (61k)
Chapter Two: New Rules for Familiars (2k)
Chapter Three: Familiars and Saga Development (42k)
Chapter Four: Popular Familiars (103k)
Chapter Five: Quadrapeda (84k)
Chapter Six: Birds (84k)
Chapter Seven: Serpents (62k)
Chapter Eight: Worms (9k)
Chapter Nine: Fish (13k)
Appendix One: Humans as Familiars (12k)
Appendix Two: Familiars of the Realms (70k)
Appendix Three: Forms, Effects and Sizes (11k)
Bibliography (6k)
For roleplayers this is a useful mindset; animals in the myths of Europe are characters, not realistic depictions of their species. This means that Storyguides need not be too finicky about realism. In the world of the medieval bestiary it is expected for animals to provide clues, engage in symbolic acts and allow the story to progress.
When designing a creature you should consider:
There is no way to give a comprehensive list of roles for creatures appearing in stories. If you are designing a story, are in a hurry and want to insert a creature, skim this section for inspiration. Each role is designed to be so general that almost any creature can play it. Some of the ideas have an example following them. This is a short scenario kernel you can either use without elaboration, or can, in some cases, develop into a story, or recurring element in your saga. Some roles can only be satisfactorily played with exact tailoring to your saga and player characters, These, and the roles you will be familiar with from nursery tales, usually lack an example.
There are other story ideas scattered throughout the text of this book. If you want a random spark of inspiration, try closing your eyes, opening the book to a random page and poking a finger into a random line.
In many stories beasts are things to fling spells at. To prevent the players feeling bored beasts are used to fill gaps in the plot with violence and action. In Ars Magica this works less well than in other games for two reasons. Since characters are more powerful in this than in other games the creatures needed to threaten them are extremely dangerous. Ars Magica attempts to capture the feel of the Middle Ages, which makes adding these terrible monsters, without damaging this ambience, difficult. Magi and magical monsters usually prefer to dwell in lairs far away from mundanes and each other, each being territorial, which makes "wandering monsters" difficult to justify.
If creatures are to be used for combat the Storyguide should carefully design their motives so that their actions seem realistic. Even if the PCs never discover, for example, why that bear fought tenaciously to the death, it's best for the storyguide to have some idea. If she was, for example, defending her young then her tactics should take that into account. For example she may concentrate on the character standing closest to the thicket in which her cub is hidden, ignoring the party completely if they retreat to a reassuring distance. It requires strong motivation for a creature to attack a large group, to continue its assault after suffering an injury, to assault a person carrying a torch or other burning object or to continue while suffering repeated harm from an unidentifiable source.
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The area around the characters' covenant fills with minor magical
creatures. They are troublesome and occasionally dangerous.
Left unattended this problem sorts itself out in a year or two,
as the more powerful predators drive out their rivals. This may
cause other problems if some of the creatures stray into mundane
habitations, seeming to have come from the covenant. Magi irritated
by the plague of nuisance creatures can seek out the cause of
this migration.
Near the covenant a large predator has developed a hunting range. The small creatures now infesting the covenant's surrounds have been forced out: their larger competitor has consumed all prey of their preferred size. If the magi remove this creature the emmigres will disperse more quickly, reducing the number of dangerous encounters. To enhance the tension of this plot the storyguide should select their creatures carefully. Try those that interest the characters, so that the players seek non-violent means to contain them,. As an alternative select those that have powers similar to those of one or more of the magi, so that nearby mundanes are suspicious as to the creatures' origin and the magi need, therefore, to deal with the problem swiftly. Finally you might select creatures with abilities that the magi have difficulty countering. This may force the characters to travel, seeking assistance. |
When acting as a foe the creature is used to evoke fear and confusion. With greater effort it can be used to draw out other feelings. The creatures described in bestiaries were meant to stir the higher emotions of readers and the last eddies of those attempts at persuasion can still be sensed in modern Western art and literature. The sensations that lions are noble and doves peaceful are remnants of the bestiarist's art.
To use creatures to tug at your players' emotions requires an intimate understanding of how your players feel. This is something that a sourcebook cannot teach, although there are a few simple pointers you may find useful.
| ...In the Rhineland is a chapel whose stained-glass windows depict Noah loading animals into the Ark. My informant tells me that the animals depicted sometimes change. Further, she states that this place has a magical property, useful only to those tied to the magical realm. In verification I asked Ezbetha, maga of Mercere, to visit the site. She tells me that she followed the instructions of my informant, and contemplated that animal which most appealed to her, or reminded her of herself, for one hour, then found a comfortable place to sleep. Ezbetha choice was a tiny frog in the tableux, and she confirms that that evening, and ocassionally since, she has had vivid dreams in which she, as a girl, is travelling to some distant place, with the frog as a companion and guide. Her dreams interact on a symbolic level with her waking life, but seem pleasant and harmless. My informant indicates that the Chapel of Animals first appeared when a mage adopted into the Order by the Founder, Criamon, fell into Final Twilight. The members of House Criamon shun the site, as they consider his vision false. |
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The dream voyages bought about by the Chapel of Animals reflect
the personality and expectations of the dreamer, so that cheerful
magi have pantomime-like adventures, and sometimes take years
to complete. A magus who is following a dream falls more easily
into Twilight (+1 intensity), but controls it more simply (+1
on control rolls and may modify their effects rolls by up to 3
points). Characters who play through their dreams gain one experience
point per year in Enigmatic Wisdom or one other ability related
to their adventure. Characters who roll 15+ in Enigmatic Wisdom,
or 12+ on House Criamon Lore know that the history of the Chapel
of Animals. They also know that it forms a bridge between the
mortal realm and the Enigmatic Void. The dream guides are the
spirits of familiars that followed their masters into Twilight.
The Chapel allows the spirits to reach out to mortals and to
alter them, making them more suitable for some great, unnamed,
task.
The purpose of the Chapel, for a storyguide, is to facilitate adventures in which you can play with symbols without setting up your players for disappointment. Since the player knows that the adventure is only a dream, it doesn't matter if you set up a scene that fails completely. It is important, however, to tie the dreams into the waking world so that they plays a role in the ongoing saga. |
Comedy is one of the easier moods to evoke. It requires the storyguide to develop a sense of threat or likely outcome, then release that tension in an unexpected way. This can create later problems, since players that have grown accustomed to a saga in which the threat repeatedly dissipates often cease to feel the tension required for either humour or drama. This can be guarded against by intercutting funny scenes and horrible ones, or by having the comedic scene as part of a larger plot that contains menace.
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Dear Fredrica,
My complete report on my last series of journeys should arrive with this letter, but I pen this cover separately to tell you of a minor injury to your fillia Camille. A malicious sprite began to torment the villagers near Conventus Aquila Regis. At the beginning the creature's tricks were embarrassing but harmless. The magi met the little creature and befriended it to varying degrees. It was of a type not known in Europe, but was like our lesser fae in that it had a cute mix of human and animal traits. I am unsure if this children's-story form was its original or glamourous. Once it had both their attention and trust the horrid thing mixed the occasional dangerous, then fatal, prank into its other japes. As the magi became increasingly concerned their little friend cames to them for aid. It blamed a more potent rival for a wall collapse and tried to convince the magi to kill its foe, for the good of the folk in surrounding villages. During this battle your child was flung from her feet into a stone outcrop, breaking her left arm, collar bone and several ribs. We must be thankful that the viscious little sprite contained Corporem vis, or your fillia might have suffered terribly. In trust E. |
The role of guardian is found in many period texts. Guardians serve to concentrate an adventure, since the characters usually know what the guardian is and that they are progressing steadily toward a climactic confrontation.
The really important thing about guardians is that the players know they exist before they meet them. Unlike many creatures, which the players stumble across while working toward some other goal, the guardian is usually the focus of a subsection of the plot. The players usually know that the guardian exists, have heard stories about the others who have attempted to gain what it defends, and have some idea of why they have failed. The death of the guardian either just before or just after its treasure is taken is traditional both in roleplaying and in the myths of many cultures.
A subset of the guardians are those whose treasure can be given to several people, either one at a time, like a magical object that returns to its keeper once each bearer dies, or several together, like a mystic who guards a secret which could be told to an unlimited number of people. Such guardians occur in the myths of many cultures, but the myths usually contain a limiting factor, to prevent everyone gaining he treasure. Such factors include not being able to find one's way back to the guardian, tests given by the guardian that require superhuman skill to overcome, a guardian who seeks out only certain people, a guardian who lives in an inaccessible place, or a terrible price that dissuades dabblers.
The third type of guardian has a treasure that can be used only once and is not potent enough to either hold of the magi or become famous for destroying other questers. In this case the magi are simply lucky enough to be the first ones to discover that there is a treasure that they can attain. In these scenarios, the sense of tension doesn't come an inevitable drift toward a climactic scene, it comes from pursuit. The magi know that if they act swiftly they can be the ones who get the prize. Conversely they know that if they tarry, or make mistakes, someone else will overcome the guardian and spirit "their" prize away.
The guardian best fulfils its role if it is linked, by theme, to its treasure, and that treasure is designed to appeal to one of your player characters.
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Mater,
I know it has long been your hobby to collect the locations of ancient magical practice. My filli have discovered an ancient tomb, which, we believe, was constructed to hold some great treasure. Within it we have found no items of mundane value, as these have presumably been stolen. We did find the bodies of several grave-robbers and, about them, the bones of a tremendous snake. My co-covenanter Hermonie has raised one of the ghosts of one of these people, but was shocked by her results. As the shade first formed, its eyes went wide and it screamed something in the language of the ancients. Then, from a shadow of the laboratory, a gigantic spectral snake struck out and coiled about the ghost, crunching it like a toy, then beginning to swallow it. My co-covenanter cast powerful dispelling magics into her ritual circle, and has since refused to call up any ghost from that site. We have high hopes that the heiroglyphs within the tomb may yet prove of value, but the information they contain is couched in euphamism, and clarifications from a spectre would be useful. Yours, Camille |
Creatures which are themselves treasure are very common in "Ars Magica". Creatures with unusual abilities often contain vis, which magi covet. It is more difficult, but more interesting, to design creatures which the players wish to keep alive for reasons other than they are a vis source. Most magical creatures can be hooked into a larger plot by making their unusual ability the key to some greater challenge.
When designing creatures as treasure, it is important to remember that the value of an object varies between persons. Characters who find an unusual creature can kill it for their point of vis, but might be able to get a better return with a little research. In the author's campaign magical creatures are rarely killed, except if the mages are afraid of them. The players have discovered it is more interesting to send out a note with the redcap describing what they've found, then seeing who turns up and what interesting things they have to offer for the creature.
Magi have many uses for magical creatures beyond as vis sources. Some covenants derive their income from the trade in magical animals, and are always watching for breeding stock. Some magi enchant animals before giving them as gifts to noblemen, and prize magical animals as they are often the most picturesque of their species. Magi often find familiars by following these rumours, and some give their apprentices magical pets in the hope that the qualities of the creature will somehow rub off on their student. Intelligent creatures, especially once linked with mental cords, make excellent minders for precocious students. The House of Mercere sometimes use intelligent animals to augment the senses of their Redcaps. Sometimes the prospective buyer isn't a magus, but a Fae tipped off by the Merinitans, a nobleman with Jerbiton connections, who has the same animal as the charge on his coat of arms or, on one occasion, another magical creature of the same species attempting to ransom her sweetheart.
An obstacle is a plot element used to manipulate the characters away from one of their options for furthering the story. At its most basic, if there is a greasy, gibbering thing guarding a doorway that they'd like to go through, but the gibbering thing has been designed so that the characters cannot overcome it without exhaustive preparations, then it is an obstacle. Obstacles are rarer in "Ars Magica" than in other game systems because the characters are very powerful, so something that obstructs them with violence needs to be so dangerous that it stretches credibility that it doesn't have something better to do with its time than getting in the characters' way.
The point of the obstacle is to break the plot into smaller units. The characters need to go away, seek information about the obstacle, find a weakness and then develop ways to exploit their research. This gives the gamesmaster time to work in plot hooks, and, if the characters are unwilling to go off immediately to work on overcoming the obstacle, it focuses their attention on the main line of the plot.
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Mater,
A huge faerie creature prowls the woods to the west of Conventus Aquila Regis. Local rumour indicates that it is a terrible fae beast, related to the thunder god. Our consortis report that the trinkets made by the local blacksmiths and witch-men do not keep it away... ...We have decided decide to concentrate our explorations along the river to the south. |
The two most common puzzles found in roleplaying are the maze and riddle, both of which are found in Greco-Roman myth. For some reason in Mythic Europe there really are magical creatures that have nothing better to do than wander about impressing their lunch with logic puzzles. The one thing to remember about creatures that ask riddles is that they are arrogant. The purpose of the riddle is to demonstrate the superior intelligence of the querant. In many cases this mania for demonstrating heir own superiority leads the creature to commit suicide once someone discovers the answer.
Faeries also ask riddles, or set puzzles like , "Guess my name". Riddling fae are on the lower end of the scale of Fae power. Fae derive their existence and power from their role, and the potent roles keep them busy with duties far more important than taunting mortals. Riddles seem to seep out of those little fae that are the menials of their own kind. They lord it over humans because among their own kind they hardly rate a mention.
No example is provided of a creature with a riddle, since you know about the Sphinx and Rumpelstiltskin already and they are typical of the role.
Virtually all folktales have a moral. Usually it's not subtle. Characters in these tales often represent ideals, and the parallels are deliberately obvious, so that listeners don't miss them. Some Ars Magica storyguides like to use a more subtle version of the same technique, tying the physical and spiritual conflict within the story together by using a symbolic figure as the thing you need to hit.
For example, peacocks are a symbol of pride. A character whose great flaw is an overinflated ego might, in a story focused on something else, need to overcome a knight whose helm contained peacock feathers, or who had a peacock charge upon his shield. This represents that to succeed in the larger story, the character will need to develop humility and acts as a sort of clue to the listener. It's a kind of game, in which the author slides in little clues and the reader feels satisfied when they spot them.
This technique is particularly prevalent in those stories found in bestiaries. It was the view of many authors that animals were provided by God to teach people moral lessons. This was an everyday event, as natural as other bits of folk-wisdom, like "red at night, sailor's delight". For many authors, history was not a random series of events, it was a narrative. Within that narrative, God liked to use little literary devices. For example, Robert the Bruce is feeling down; he watches a spider trying to build a web; he realises that he's not in character; he adjusts his play; God lets him win Bannockburn.
Using this technique presents several difficulties.. It requires the teller and listener to interpret symbols the same way. It's easy for a storyteller to use a modern symbol in place of a period one. It requires the players to pay attention to the little bits of trivia that fill every story, or the storyteller to repeat the symbol several times.
Omens turn up regularly in European myths. Emperor Tiberius, for instance, is having a slow day. Then he sees an eagle land on a statue of him. The statue is then struck by lightning, destroying the letter C in the inscription on the pedestal. He consults a seer who tells him that he has one hundred days to live. On the hundredth day afterward, he dies.
Omens are not always fatal. Sometimes, as a Mythic European, you see an eagle drop a tortoise on the head of some poor bald fellow, mistaking his dome for a rock, and you know you've seen an omen but have not the foggiest notion what the Great Narrator is trying to say. Enigmatic Wisdom may help you understand the point Nature is trying to make. Failing that you should read a bestiary. Misinterpreted reflections of greater problems make for excellent story hooks..
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Beloved child, allow me to send you a warning.
You may recall the astrologer who predicted a comet would be visible from your covenant this July, and that it would herald great trouble, with a local person of some importance being immoliated. You have, as I recall, placed certain safeguards over your friends and enemies, to prevent this ill chance. I must tell you that your preparations may be in vain, for information has come to me that will concern you greatly. The magi of the House Flambeau see the Phoenix as a great omen of success. It is believed that any magus who sees a Phoenix will become a great artist of incineration. Recently a Flambeau magus who travelled in the distant East returned with a new explanation of the Phoenix that has the more philosophical members of the House all astir. He believes that the Phoenix is not a bird at all, but is a comet. Seeing shooting stars, he believes, one is bathed in light from the Sphere above ours, and this burns itself into the magus, drawing him closer to the Light and Upper Flames. His mystic interpretation goes further, claiming the magi at Jesus' nativity where therefore, in spirit if not in name, Flambeau magi, drawn by a comet to Jesus. He is an astrologer and predicts that a particularly brilliant comet will be visible from your covenant on the sixth day of July. The other redcaps warn me that Flambeau magi from as far away as Iberia and the Levant are preparing to travel to your covenant. Dearest child, my estimate of their numbers is slightly over thirty. |
In some stories animals are used to represent private aspects of a character. Often these are evil traits. For example, a gorgeous witch may have a toad familiar, to demonstrate to the listener that she is less savoury than her complexion makes her appear. Sometimes virtues are similarly represented in the same way.. Many saints have an animal story associated with them, and the qualities of the animal reflect the virtues of the saint.
Many unusual creatures are drawn from other realms. Their most interesting trait is that they can, for example, look like a fallow deer but act like a wolf. Unnatural creatures are always able to suprise, because no-one is sufficiently paranoid to expect every passing animal of being more than it seems.
Clues are simply a way for the storyguide to push the characters along when they are stumped. A seemingly unrelated event gives them the inspiration to move the plot forward. Clues can come from the behaviour of animals, from what the animal symbolises, or from possessions stored in its lair or nest. Clues are so saga dependant that there is no point in giving an example here.
An animal companion is essentially a pet that travels with the character regularly. These animals become an extension of the human, augmenting their senses. For example, redcaps have mules and horses which are highly trained and, like most horses in Mythic Europe, have a sort of danger sense triggered by magic. Redcaps find this useful, as many of them lack the Sight. If they are riding through a forest and the horse chooses not to take a certain path, they know it is because the horse is afraid of something along the road that they cannot sense. Other animals have similar abilities. The more intelligent the animal companion, the more useful it is, as it can give more subtle explanations of what it senses. Intelligent animal companions also have closer relationships with their masters.
Companions are almost always domestic animals, but this isn't necessarily the case. Cinderella, in some versions of the story, has the ability to ask woodland creatures to assist her with her chores, for example. It's amusing to have an apprentice with a similar talent in a saga.
A familiar is the closest friend many magi have, and they have been given their own chapter below. In many ways the familiar is a mixture of best friend, child and spouse to their magus. Due to this close tie, familiars are the most human-seeming animals in Mythic Europe.
Intelligent animals can play many of the same roles as humans, including that of mentor. Mandrake magi, from Faeries, are magicians trained by an intelligent tree root. It is possible that magi could instead be trained by an intelligent creature.
Imagine that a familiar loses its magus in a wizards' war yet, unlike many familiars, it does not die soon after its master. It seeks out a Gifted child and trains him, retaining a private cache of books in the master's Secret Hiding Place. Years after finishing off their adversary and draining the vis from his corpse, what will the players do when his signature spell comes hissing from the darkness?
The "Enemy" flaw includes people such as viscous innkeepers. There's no reason why a particular creature can't take a dislike to a player. Familiars are especially useful for this. Imagine your player develops a romantic attachment with a magus, only to discover that your love's familiar is jealous of the relationship. Familiars aside, many folktales include gigantic, intelligent versions of domestic animals and these could serve equally well. Motivation is the key to designing a believable enemy.
Animals are often used in designs to mark an area or thing as being connected to a prestigious person. Emperors carry eagles, for example, in many statues, to emphasise their regality. Many magic items, designed by magi following this aesthetic trend, have powers and triggering motions hinted at by an animal motif.
Some creatures are sufficiently powerful and intelligent that they can form plans and act upon them. These plans can conflict with the players indirectly, so that they are not so much an enemy as an inconvenience. The trick for the characters is to find a way of turning such problems to their advantage.
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Dear Bethold,
I am glad to hear that your embassage went so well. A clear road through the Pale Wood shortens travel time on that run by almost a fortnight, and since the reduction in polling at the Grand Tribunal, the House's treasury of vis is less full than we could wish. Before fulfing our side of the contract, however, I'd be interested to hear your observations concerning the use to which the Pale King In Ermine will put the items requested. As to their availability, there may be some difficulty, as the items are attractive to other parties. There is a promising young hopolite, however, whose skills, I trust, will prove sufficent for their acquisition. F. |
Sometimes creatures are placed in the story to throw players off the scent of something more important. The most direct distraction is the scintillating snake, which hypnotises those who see it. Comic creatures make for excellent distractions, as they lower the guard of the victim.
Many of the creatures of Mythic Europe are used as tools by humans. Horses are a conveyance, oxen provide force, pigeons carry messages, dogs hunt. Magi may have animals bred or trained to assist them in their duties. Many covenants have horses and pack animals trained not to fear the Blatant Gift. Redcaps often use animals to extend their senses and combat abilities. Some covenants have dogs who can sense Infernally-tainted individuals kept near the gates.
The interesting thing about animals which are used as tools is that magi rarely understand the conventions which underlay their service. This is why an Imagenem magus is just as likely to send a message peacock as a carrier pigeon and a cat magus may ride a lion instead of a horse. Which animals a covenant or magus uses for which tasks can tell you a great deal about their Gift and personality.
Hermetic familiars are often extremely interested in the exploits of previous generations of familiars of their type. Dead animals, it must be remembered, can be bought back to life with Hermetic rituals, providing the reflections an intimate and educated observer of famous figures. Even creatures known to have been drawn into Twilight interest familiars, since many of these ancients had specially created magical items, which they probably didn't take with them into the Void.
Touchstones are things which tell the magus that they are home and safe. Big fluffy dogs, moat serpents and circling seabirds make excellent touchstones. Their purpose is to signal that the adventure has moved from the active, tense phase to the unwinding and savouring section just before the end.
A creature in an inverted power relationship is terrifying because it rocks the human sense of commanding events. The homocidal rabbit from "Monty Python's The Quest for the Holy Grail" demonstrates this. It's funny and horrible because you know that the knights have spitted and nibbled thousands of coneys, but now this bunny is getting his own back.
The other inverted power relationship occurs when a fearsome beast is under the control of, or requires the assistance of, humans. The classic version of this story is Aesop's fable of the lion with the thorn in his paw.
Social keys are links to other significant figures which allow the mage to gain information and allies. Creatures form social groups, and these, in turn, give magi access to the humans associated with the other creatures in the group. Two examples of this are the White and Black cat lineages. The first traces its descent back to the origins of the Mercere and spends a lot of its time sending gossipy notes, arranging marriages for "their" humans and seeking answers to puzzles. The second, often associated with the Jerbitons, has links to Faerie courts in Britain, may have some instinctive understanding of infernal powers, has members who were once Bjornaer magi and may act as sponsors for a modern survival of the Cult of Urbastis. To access either of these networks requires the mage to have a cat of the correct colour. Most other intelligent animals, if of social species, have some sort of network which their humans may utilise.
A time bomb is a creature that becomes steadily more dangerous until it is faced. The classic Time Bomb is the Lambton Worm, a creature that the young lord of the manor, out fishing instead of doing something Good For Him, caught in the river. He dropped it down the well, then went on with his life, eventually going on Crusade as a young man. When he returned the creature, grown massive, had crawled out of the well and encircled the hill, killing people and sucking cows dry to sustain itself. He managed to dispatch it at terrible cost.
Another form of time bomb can be developed using creatures that reproduce prolifically. The characters may notice the first few of the creatures and think nothing of them, only to be alarmed when, returning from a journey, they find a pandemic that makes the covenant unliveable.
Usually a time bomb has rewards commesurate with the difficulty of despatching the foe. That is, the Lambton Worm or Faerie Paper Wasps contain more vis if they are allowed to reach the final and most hazardous stages of development. Interestingly both of the examples given above have vast regenerative qualities. The Worm could reform itself from its sliced portions, and escaping wasps could found another hive in some out-of-the-way place. The difficulty with confronting a time bomb creature is that you are never really sure that your victory is complete.
A story axis is a passive figure about which a story revolves. The Maltese Falcon, for example is a story axis, because the plot revolves around it while it plays no direct role in its resolution, because it's a lump of rock. It is possible for creatures to be the axis of a story of which they are entirely unaware, or in which they play no role. These creatures often serve as a treasure, much as the falcon does, so that the person holding the story axis at the end is the winner, but this is not always the case. The opposite storyline, the hot potato, requires the characters to give a dangerous object to rivals before it causes them harm.
The value of the story axis is that it limits defeat, in most cases, to not having the axis. When mages compete over other treasures, like vis harvesting rights, conflict often escalates to the point where covenants become enemies. This isn't always what the storyguide wants. After the Story Axis plot has been exhausted, the other people revolving about the axis have all been introduced in intricate detail, but have not been entirely alienated. This gives the storyguide greater range of role when they are reintroduced later.
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Dear Iason,
...It is extremely important to the Order that you convey privily to me the stuffed griffin's head that once adorned the fireplace in the Covenant of the Winged Victory. I know that this request sounds almost comic, but it is required for negotiations with a powerful faerie lord. I am familiar with the childish fashion in which the head is parlayed and pilfered by the covenants of Thebes but admit to not understanding the ettiquette of this sport. I am sure that you can acquire this most trival and yet most sought-after item for the good of the House... |
If a creature is magical for some other reason, based, for example on being raised in a high aura, or being enchanted, or being cursed, it has Accidental Virtues. Here accident is being used in the Greek sense. An accident is something not in the original design that occurs regardless..
In Ars Magica certain animals in each species have the magical powers attributed to them in bestiaries. Other, more common, creatures of that species are identical to those we know from the real world. The creatures which reflect the mythic perception of their species are described as being of Virtue. The most important decision you need to make about the creature you are designing is whether it is virtuous, because this determines whether it has magical powers.
Creatures have varying degrees of virtue, based on how closely they reflect the True Form of their species. Some animals are only a little more closely linked to the World of Forms than the average, and have one, tiny, supernatural attribute. Those with stronger links develop major mystical attributes. Those with the strongest bonds have all of the powers described in the later chapters for their species. Virtue derived from trueness to form is described more fully in Hedge Magic, an earlier supplement for Ars Magica.
Creatures can also attain virtue by being drawn further from their true form than usual. Creatures who dwell in magical areas often develop strange abilities and these virtues more often reflect the site in which they dwell than the mythical powers of their type. In these cases the body of the creature isn't made more powerful by magic emanating from its true form, but by magic that has been invested in its body by its surroundings. Most speaking animals, and virtually all familiars, have accidental virtue.
Generally when this supplement refers to creatures "of virtue" it means those of virtue reflecting form. Creatures who have accidental virtues defy classification or general discussion, since each has been created by a different magical environment. They don't necessarily have any of the powers related for their species in European myth, which means they don't necessarily have any of the abilities or behaviour patterns described in later chapters.
To make matters even more complicated, it's possible for a creature to have virtues both of form and accident. Imagine a cat that is born with Magical Might, magic resistance and the abilities to cause asthma and see in the dark. It is a creature with virtues of form. Later it familiarises a magus and develops intelligence and bond qualities, including shapeshifting and the ability to become invisible at night. These new powers are accidental virtues, that is, they have no real link to the fact that the creature is a cat.
Some magi believe that Creo Corporem magic can be used, often with a Muto requisite, to create virtues of form. They are usually wrong. Essentially spells like "The Immaculate Beast", although they do draw inspiration from the World of Forms, create accidental virtues that are similar to what the mage designing the spell interprets the true form of the beast to be. This is why two Immaculate Horses, for example, are not identical in height or colour and why two cats created with magic have subtly different personalities.
Might is an indicator of how far a creature deviates from average, either toward or away from their form. To challenge a magus, the Might score needs to be high, around 20, since this determines how often the beast can use its powers, how dangerous these powers are, and what the creature's resistance is. Many beasts, however, aren't designed to challenge magi or are designed to have a single dangerous attribute, without also having magic resistance or containing a great deal of vis. These creatures have lower mights, but have the Penetration Talent.
Might determines, along with story considerations, how difficult it is to overcome a creature and, therefore, how large a reward the characters should accrue for victory. The vis contained in creatures varies between sagas, since storyguides regulate its availability to mould the feel of their stories. No satisfactory rule of thumb can be presented here, since some storyguides like to limit different flavours of vis to make some more common or precious than others. The later chapters do include a suggested quantity for each creature, but these amounts assume you run a campaign in which vis, although the characters always want more, is never in short supply.
The body parts of many beasts have magical properties. Companions often desire these, since they are effectively magic items. The vis in a creature is often concentrated in these sections, and a mage draining the magic out of a body usually deprives their companions of these precious items. Some body parts are so useful that characters will choose not to extract the vis from them. For example, many covenants of the Order include a chip of alicorn (unicorn's horn) in the symbols of office of their turb captains, since an object which creates sudden sobriety is so useful in a crisis.
The characteristics of animals of virtue are usually higher than those of realistic animals. In previous Ars Magica supplements this has been taken into account and the statistics provided have been deliberately inflated for wild creatures like bears and boars. The statistics given in the main rulebook assume that the creature is of virtue, and has the virtue of increased physical potency.
Previous supplements do not, however, always inflate the combat prowess of creatures. There are some animals that have mythical statistics other than strength. Domestic animals are usually realistically portrayed. When reading the later chapters of this work you may notice that the statistics from earlier supplements are used to maintain compatibility. Some creatures are, however, marked as being far more potent than a realistic portrayal would warrant.
Size: Look up a creature, that you imagine to be the same size as the one you are creating, in the later chapters, and use its value.
Strength: Generally the bigger a creature is, the stronger it is. For the average creature Strength equals Size. As with humans, animals vary a little, although very small creatures are almost never more than one point stronger or weaker than suggested.
Strength, Stamina, Dexterity and Quickness are rated in comparison to humans.
Perception: Animals often have senses beyond the human, although human sight is relatively good. Most realistic animals have a Perception of 2 or more, although this can be influenced by many factors. Allegorical animals may have lower scores, or may have scores that are impossibly high in certain circumstances. For long-term characters the storyguide may find it useful to split the character's perception, trading a point or two from the general score for a bonus with the creature's superhuman sense.
Cunning and Intelligence: Neither modern zoology nor medieval scholarship accept that there is a firm division between the way some animals think and the way humans think. The hallmarks of intelligence, self-awareness, a desire to modify the environment and tool usage, are found in many species, although ours is the most skilled. In Ars Magica there is a strict division between animal and human thought, imposed by the Arts of Mentem and Animal. Decide what the division between Intelligence and Cunning means to you, then determine if your creature is one or the other. Cunning animals which become familiars develop an Int score of (their mage's intelligence - 1). As a rule of thumb, if a creature is intelligent rather than cunning, halve the Cunning score and use it as Intelligence.
Presence and Communication: These characteristics are for humans and are targeted at other humans. Some creatures are able to interact as if human, and use their Presence and Communication scores normally, but most cannot, so you should halve their communication score if they are interacting with a creature of a species other than their own and halve their presence for any message not to do with threat of force. Familiars have a Communication equal to their Bond of the Mind score. Their Presence may change, at the storyguide's discretion, due to the warping of the body that accompanies some familiarisations.
Most creatures have skills, but the storyguide need only generate those few which a creature is likely to use when the players may observe it. Most have Awareness, especially herbivores or prey species. Hunting and tracking are usual for carnivores. In the templates below you'll find "spare" points, which can be spent to differentiate exceptional animals from their non-virtuous brethren. Creatures of virtue often have exceptional talents, such as weather sense or perfect balance. They also have a new ability, ferocity, that reflects unnatural skill in combat.
One important aspect of creatures of virtue is that they are capable of epic rage. This translates, in game mechanics, to a bonus on their combat totals whenever faced with a certain situation that provokes their fury. This bonus is called a Ferocity score.
The purpose of the ferocity score is to allow creatures to perform those epic feats in combat which are both insisted upon in mythology and impossible. The panther, lion and elephant, for example, are all described as dragon-killers. Although there are many dragons which are little more than tremendous constrictors, some bestiarists seem to have meant that panthers can slay fire-breathing dinosaurs. The ferocity bonus makes this type of combat possible, without enhancing the abilities of the creature outside the special circumstances in which it shines.
Ferocity must never be increased using experience points.
Most creatures have some ability to cause the player-characters harm using pieces of sharpened anatomy. The combat statistics for these protuberances vary according to their size, density and virtue. The following scores assume that the creature is a natural representative of its species.
|
Small critters are size -2 or below. Medium creatures are sizes
-1 to +1 inclusive. Large creatures are sizes +2 through +4.
Huge creatures are size 5 or larger. It is possible to have
creatures even larger than the huge creatures described here.
Size: Init Atk Dmg Claws Small +1 +1 -1 Medium: +2 +2 +2 Large +4 +4 +6 Huge +6 +3 +9 Bite Small +1 +0 -2 Medium +2 +2 +2 Large +3 +4 +7 Huge +4 +6 +11 Horns Small +2 +2 +0 Medium +3 +2 +1 Large +5 +4 +5 Huge +6 +3 +7 |
Combat between creatures is rare. Intimidation usually serves in its place. Everyday carnivorous prowling for food should be handled with Hunting ability rolls For those unusual occasions on which creatures attack each other, the combat rules should be modified as follows:
Even when creatures intend to do each other harm, they usually will accept the immediate flight of their rival in the place of bloodshed. Creatures entering combat force their opponent to make a roll of (Brave + Presence or size) against (Intimidation + either presence or size). Creatures that fail these checks flee the battlefield. After each wound a creature should to repeat this check using the wound modifiers appropriate for its condition. Some creatures, with strong motivations, need not make this roll. It is entirely possible for both creatures to be spooked by their rival. Animals attacking their usual prey should use hunting rolls instead of the combat system.
If one creature is substantially larger than the other (3 or more points of Size difference) it gets an initiative bonus of +3. Normal humans battling small creatures (size -3 or below) gain this bonus. For the purpose of this rule mounted humans are considered to be Size 3, even if the creature attacks only the horse or rider. This nominal size does not affect any other game mechanic, such as encumbrance. The bonuses for being larger than your opponent, being on high ground and for being mounted are not cumulative. Airborne creatures are considered to automatically have this bonus against land-bound opponents, regardless of size. At the discretion of the storyguide you may claim this bonus against opponents who are prone.
Creatures attacking with weapons not attached to the limbs carrying their weight may move their full allowance before attacking in a turn, while those attacking with a weapon attached to a moving limb get have their movement allowance. A creature using both, or attacking with a tool, gets half their normal movement during a turn. Trampling creatures may move their full allowance.
Claws and teeth have Touch Range. Animals with large horns sometimes have Reach range. Although it is possible to avoid their horns by standing right in front of their heads, most such creatures also have trample attacks.
| A dragon in flight may attack with its claws and teeth after a full round of movement, since the limbs that are moving it, its wings, are not used. A cat may move half its movement allowance and then use its claws, or its entire allowance and use its teeth. If it uses both, it may only move half of its allowance. A charging bull may use all of its allowance, either to trample or impale with its horns. |
Humans have the advantages of their technologies over animals. A human does not care if his spear is scratched or snapped by his opponent, while a lion will avoid similar damage to its teeth. Similarly humans have, in some cases, supernaturally hard armour. Both of these advantages have already been factored into combat totals and bonuses. Animals which suffer attack botches have often hurt themselves sufficiently that they are forced to retreat from conflict.
Humans also have the ability to ride horses, which affects their size. A mounted human is considered to be 3 points larger than usual, as described above. Humans of size 2 or more cannot ride conventional horses, requiring special draft breeds, or magical steeds, to bear their weight.
Humans attack in groups very effectively and are relatively difficult to surprise, in their home environments.
Some humans have the Gift, which causes animals to avoid them, or retreat before them, by instinct.
Many of the animals described in later chapters have been "mythologised". That is, they are more powerful than, in life, we know them to be. Bears, for example, under the current rules, are virtually unkillable if you are an average human with a little combat training, a sword and armor. Ars Magica was originally designed so that things from France and England seem realistic, and get progressively more mythical until you hit the edges of Europe. Bears, and more exotic animals, were caught up in this desgin choice. "What people believed to be true", Ars Magica's creative guideline, has been interpreted in earlier supplements so that it basically makes western European beliefs accurate.
In the newer versions of Ars Magica, you can set a saga anywhere in Eurasia, the author has run an Aztec game, and some online players have discussed games set in pre-contact North America. This exposes the Anglo-French bias in the earlier supplements. In a game set in Egypt, for example, crocodilles and lions should be protrayed realistically and many animals from England and Ireland "mythologised". The Islamic wolf, for example, is striped and has unusual powers. Basically, the further from you a beast lives, and the less you know about it, the more interesting its abilities should be. This book can't provide you with several sets of statistics for each animal, so it includes those which assume you are playing a saga set somewhere in Britain or France, following the implicit interpretation in previous books.
If your animal foes seem unnecessarily large, it may be because of this bias. In that case you should trim them down. Compare the Atk and Dmg they do to the table of animal weapons presented earlier and see how they compare.
Many creatures of virtue have combat skills which distort the rules presented here or in the main rulebook. Storyguides should alter combat procedures when they feel it will improve the story.
One ability many player character animals have is experience in their combat skills. The combat statistics presented below assume that your character is an adult member of its species with no special aptitude for combat. This means that your character has a Brawling skill of 0.
This isn't the same as being unskilled. If your character is a juvenile, they take the -3 penalty for unskilled character, however for adult animals, their combat statistics assume they are untrained but competent. This mechanic is in place to prevent player character animals adding 4 to all of their combat abilities by spending a single experience point. Humans do this, when they go from unskilled (-3 penalty) to poorly skilled (+1 modifier on dice rolls).
The physical attacks of animals are usually all bundled in a single skill, Brawling. In the same way that a human uses brawling to kick, punch and bite, an animal may use the Brawling skill to gore, scratch and trample.
Virtually all creatures from folklore have a weakness. Once you have assessed the role you want the creature to play in your story, you will know how you would like the creature to be overcome. Weaknesses often serve as adventure hooks.
It is important to remember that animals which the characters interact with in a friendly fashion have weaknesses. The horses, dogs and birds with which companions may equip themselves have all of the flaws of their species. Magical creatures, even those created temporarily, are closer to their Form than normal animals, and have the epic flaws of their type, to balance their powers. Magically augmented creatures can develop fresh weaknesses as their powers increase. Enhanced senses, for example, sometimes make the creature intolerant of environmental conditions which would not previously have concerned them. Enhanced intelligence leads to human foibles. Greater strength may make a creature more aggressive, or, temporarily, clumsier.
The appearance of a creature is developed last, as it depends on the decisions you have made previously about abilities, powers and weaknesses. Even if you are using a creature that is described in the later chapters, you should take the time to customise its appearance. These cosmetic changes can provide the players with hints and help them differentiate creatures of the same species.
Humans are usually visually-orientated, that is, they will first assess the creature by seeing it. You can, however, instead allow the characters to assess the beast by its effect on its environment. Since many creatures mark their territories, it is often one of these markers that first alerts the character to the creature's presence. Magical creatures often use their exceptional abilities to mark their areas of influence.
Animals influence their surroundings in other ways. They leave footprints, in many cases, build lairs, leave the bones of prey scattered about their hunting ranges, all of which can give an idea of the creature's size. Animals that browse from trees betray their height, by stripping leaves from branches no higher than a certain distance from the ground. Any of these clues can allow characters to identify a dangerous creature without having to face it, risking injury or death.