Ars Magica D20 / Atlas Games

Razuur

First Post
Hello Atlas!

I love your work. You are one of my favorite companies.

I love the Ars Magica setting. I know that Black Monks had some conversion notes in it, but have you ever considered making the Ars magica Setting D20?

I think you might have some buyers. I know you are doing 5th edition soon. Any thoughts on a D20 version, or dual system?

Razuur
 

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Razuur said:
Hello Atlas!

I love your work. You are one of my favorite companies.

I love the Ars Magica setting. I know that Black Monks had some conversion notes in it, but have you ever considered making the Ars magica Setting D20?

I think you might have some buyers. I know you are doing 5th edition soon. Any thoughts on a D20 version, or dual system?

Razuur

Hmmm, they do have an Ars Magica/D20 dual stat adventure The Black Monks of Glastonbury. I liked it, though I will never run it for D&D. I don't know how well it did for the folks at Atlas tough.

The Auld Grump
 

Not likely.

From what I heared on their forums and ArM-list, Atlas emphasised that the dual-stats are meant to draw in d20 crowd to ArM, rather than be an d20-to-ArM conversion. Furthermore, they noted that doing such a conversion is not on their agenda.

[Begin Kidnapping Thread]
While the two systems have many similarities, I believe converting ArM to d20 is difficult, since the game-design philosophies of the two are different. The way I see it, you will need to abandon at least some of "holy cows" of d20: presenting the ArM way of gaining XP through training, and per skill rather than levels, at the very least. These kind of changes are profound, and the game essentially will not be a d20 one. (That being said, it would make "selling it" to my friends much easier.)
Should you choose to retain XP-by-Adventure, you will lose much of the focus of ArM (the wizard's lab and basic premise of the covenant). It might be possible to retain classes, but I cannot think of a class-based (as opposed to skill-based) system that will allow one to recreate the stock ArM characters (the specialist Flambeau, the generalist magus, the fighter-like Jerbiton or Tremere, and so on).

I am working, lasily, on my own such conversion. Other than the above, I see no inherent problem as long as you are willing to adopt solutions from both systems. (I use the ArM magic, the D&D initiative and combat but with ArM attack and damage, and so on.)
I would, of course, be very interested in such an official setting book. I value Atlas' products highly, both the ArM and the d20 products that I own. But most ArM players fear such a move, fearing it would both fracture an already small fan-base and, worse, that a conversion cannot be made without sacrificying much of what IS ArM. I tend to agree with the latter, unless "d20" is used very loosely.
[/End Kidnap.]
 

Razuur said:
Hello Atlas!

Hi!

Razuur said:
I love your work. You are one of my favorite companies.

I love the Ars Magica setting.

Why thank you! :)

Razuur said:
I know that Black Monks had some conversion notes in it, but have you ever considered making the Ars magica Setting D20?

I think you might have some buyers. I know you are doing 5th edition soon. Any thoughts on a D20 version, or dual system?

We're not planning to dual-stat Ars Magica in general, nor to convert the game to d20. I think we would lose a lot of the devoted fans of the game, and the overcrowded d20 market is not likely to be a source of a lot of new converts.

Ars Magica is in good shape without going d20. In fact, our typical new Ars Magica release now sells better than our typical new d20 release (and has lower costs, a longer sales life, and better profit margins as well).
 

JohnNephew said:
We're not planning to dual-stat Ars Magica in general, nor to convert the game to d20. I think we would lose a lot of the devoted fans of the game, and the overcrowded d20 market is not likely to be a source of a lot of new converts.

Ars Magica is in good shape without going d20. In fact, our typical new Ars Magica release now sells better than our typical new d20 release (and has lower costs, a longer sales life, and better profit margins as well).

If l5r is any indication, going dualstated can loose a lot of customers, l5r had the distict advantage of being featured in a WotC book.

Might i make a suggestion? I don't know how much work it would be to convert an AM product to D20 stats and rules, but it might be a worthy investment to have as a web companion to a pure AM print product. The worst it could do is that it wouldn't get you any additional customers (i highly doubt it would cost you customers, but you might have some better insights into this than i have), any you would gain would be good for AM sales. Just an idea...
 

I've seen some web-stuff about adapting the Ars Mag magic to D&D... Usually not convinced by the result, it's a lot of work for not that good a result.

I've gone in fact a bit in the reverse way, reworking the combat system of Ars Mag to make it look like a D&D-lite system (during each round, everyone act at his init, making either a full-round action or a standard action and a move action, you don't roll defense nor damage soaking) but it's still d10.

However, I'm a bit off-topic since the edition of Ars Mag I have is the one published by White Wolf, and translated in French by Descartes, along with several sourcebooks of the same period. I also have two sourcebooks made by WotC, in English (Faeries and House of Hermes), which are thus not really more recent.
 

Well I was just hoping. I really enjoyed Black Monks of Glastonbury, and much of the littel Ars Magica touches in it were welcome to D20. I am glad that Ars is still doing well for you, and I hope that the 5th ed does as well for you as the fourth. I just want someone to do a good D20 medieval europe setting, but no one seems to want to make the attempt (and a mythic china, india, arabian, egyptian) etc.

I do hope you continue to make D20 products. Yours are always of the highest quality. I love Occult Lore, The Fantasy Best, D&D, and of course Nyambe (notice I didn't say we needed a good african themed campaign setting - you did it and did it perfectly.)

That said, I run a variant D20 game that uses the core mechanic, but doesn't use levels and other constrictions that D20 has. I am still waiting for someone to take this and run with it, and create something like decipher's coda but OGL for D20.

ANYWAYS.... Thanks again, and keep churning out the good product!

Razuur
 

JohnNephew said:
Ars Magica is in good shape without going d20. In fact, our typical new Ars Magica release now sells better than our typical new d20 release (and has lower costs, a longer sales life, and better profit margins as well).

I'm very glad that your AM line is selling well, as I think the quality level is very high, and I enjoy mining them for plot hooks.

That said, I really love the d20 stuff that I have of Atlas (the Penumbra Fantasy Bestiary & Dynasties and Demigouges, and I'm saving my pennies for Crime and Punishment). The sales and costs may be connected to the hardcover nature of the d20 stuff vs some of the softcovers releases for AM, but I certainly hope to see more (and more, and more) d20 stuff from Atlas.

Harry
 



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