Has the free Ars Magica pdf increased your purchases?

[Yair]

I would also just like to add that I do think that Atlas would benefit from making a free 5th light with just the basics, which was also done with 4th, for new people to try it out and because I think 5th edition will appeal to more people.

Hmm, perhaps you do have a point there. ArM4 is certainly a bad preview of ArM5 IMO - so much duller.
But as I said in a different thread, the problem with a light-version of ArM is that a lot of what makes ArM's gameplay ArM (the flexible magic system and the seasonal advancement) is very rules intensive.

Oh, and Welcome to ENWorld, Furion!

 

[Odhanan]

I purchased Ars Magica, but the PDF had no impact on my purchase whatsoever.

 

[Erstwhile]

I downloaded the free PDF, but it had no impact on my buying habits, as I already had the dead tree edition as well as several supplements (for 4th as well as earlier editions). But having it in PDF form as well is a definite plus - as an example, I was able to compile a short "player's manual" with printouts of the character creation rules, etc. That's probably the main reason I'll jump at getting free PDFs of game books I already own.

Still haven't actually been able to play the damn thing though. :\ I did have a group lined up for an ArM campaign but scheduling problems left the game dead before it began...and I've got a fairly large list of games that are also begging to be played, so ArM always seems to end up at the bottom of the list with any new group...

 

[sjmiller]

Sadly, I cannot get my gaming group interested in playing Ars Magica, otherwise I would buy everything they make for it. I like the concept and the game mechanics for their creativity.

That, however, does not stop me from buying their non-RPG stuff. I love Lunch Money, and give that out as gifts quite a lot. They make a lot of other cool stuff too. They are a local game company for me, which makes it cool, and I get to see playtest material sometimes. What's not to like?

 

[Wombat]

ArM is quite portable as a system, and doesn't have to be tied to the Mythic European setting at all.

When I first ran an AM campaign, I used the Harn maps -- fit well there.

I am currently working on porting AM over into the time of the Napoleonic Wars (I am terming this Regency Magica, but think Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell meets the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian).

I know of one saga that is set in a pure fantasy setting, without the limitations on the magi. In that game, magi actively rule the world and ride around on dragons.

And I have heard of two people who have AM-Modern settings, the notes for one of which is posted at Sanctum Hermeticum Revisited (see my tagline).

Yes, AM is much more flexible than it appears at first; unfortunately, it has such a tiny fanbase that printing alternate setting books is economically impractical for Atlas. (This last is an opinion only; I have not actually talked to anyone at Atlas on this point.)

 

[Stormborn]

Most of the Atlas Products I own are for Unknown Armies, which is now defunt, and some of their d20 stuff. I got the AM pdf, and pickied up an older edition on sale, but it has not affected my purchases in anyway. There are still a few of their older d20 books I might buy, but I havent made any Atlas purchases in a while.

 

[Yair]

The ArM4 free pdf is now available through e23, BTW, as are all the other Atlas products. (I especially recommend Guardians of the Forest as an excellent mythic depiction of medieval Germany, even if you don't play ArM. It's just about my favorite roleplaying book.)