Tried to read Ars Magica for some reason
Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 5:25 am
Since I got into the hobby back in my early 20s, I've seen some gatekeeping being done in gaming. I've seen it and heard of it being done by gamers to other gamers, but interpersonally.
I didn't think I'd ever actually run into an RPG's core rulebook that did it – at least, not an RPG that wasn't some obscure insane rant scribbled-together in crayons in someone's parents' basement.
And that's when I tried reading Ars Magica 5th Edition.
With the lockdown, I wanted to try some RPGs that one can play solo – just for fun. Yes, I know what video games are, but I felt like more of a tabletop RPG feel. I found some games like Ironsworn but then saw some post somewhere about how you can play Ars Magica solo and that sounded fun.
I've never actually played Ars Magica before, I read some bits of the 4th edition book when they made it free way back when, but then my group wanted to do some other game and I just sort of forgot that Ars Magica existed.
I don't think I've ever read through a core rulebook before that actively tried to get potential new players to put it down and walk away from it forever, but boy Ars Magica fucking does a great job at that.
Basically, unless you had prior knowledge of Ars Magica or are getting the book because you actually got into an Ars Magica group (which I can't believe there are many of, worldwide), the 5th edition rulebook is seemingly written to dissuade you from getting into it.
The book doesn't explain things – it mentions things.
For example, it mentions magi, but doesn't explain how people become magi (not unless you're bouncing around the book, collating bits about the Gift here, crumbs about Gauntlets and apprenticeships there). You would think that should have been the first fucking thing the book should have gone into, but David Chart preferred to shart a bunch of crap about the Order of Hermes' 8th century background (game is set in the 13th century, btw), instead.
It mentions Companions, Grogs and covenfolk, but doesn't bother explaining how magi can gather such people around them (what with the Gift turning you into a People Repellent). No, fuck it, you just have companions. May seem like a minor detail, but at least one miserly sentence about it is very much needed considering how magi are, as mentioned, not great at interacting with mundanes and how you're apparently supposed to go through Grogs like socks.
I'm guessing maybe this stuff may have either been gone into back in YouHadtoBeThere Edition or it never was explained and nobody cared – either way, the book seems to assume that you already know all this, because it certainly isn't written for someone who is just learning what magi are and how to play one.
In general, the book is written and structured as if it's just the Patch Notes for an older edition, laid out for the benefit of veteran players.
Another thing about this book is that it has a fucking attitude.
Again and again, the book says things like "oh, this will probably be a little too complicated for you. You can't really be trusted with something like this." – it does so when it comes to Character Creation, suggesting that new players shouldn't try to create their own characters, but use one of many horrid Templates laid out in the character creation section, instead.
I actually got stumped trying to figure out the basics. I just wanted to create a character and a Covenant so I could learn the system by testing it solo – but the Covenant creation rules are… not laid out in a way written for someone who doesn't already know what they're on about.
Am I just stupid, or is the book just… not written in a way that a player new to the system is supposed to figure out except by intense fucking study?
In the end, I just couldn't be Arsed with this Magica (fucking gottem, bois).
Just to salt the wound, it reminded me of how some fanboys tried to do a Kickstarter for an Ars Magica video game that one time almost a decade ago and the best they could come up with for a pathetic Trailer looked more like a commercial trying to sell a product that solves an incredibly specific problem that only a tiny fraction of a subsection of the population might have… (their Kickstarter failed - although, amazingly, some people did burn some money on it...)
I didn't think I'd ever actually run into an RPG's core rulebook that did it – at least, not an RPG that wasn't some obscure insane rant scribbled-together in crayons in someone's parents' basement.
And that's when I tried reading Ars Magica 5th Edition.
With the lockdown, I wanted to try some RPGs that one can play solo – just for fun. Yes, I know what video games are, but I felt like more of a tabletop RPG feel. I found some games like Ironsworn but then saw some post somewhere about how you can play Ars Magica solo and that sounded fun.
I've never actually played Ars Magica before, I read some bits of the 4th edition book when they made it free way back when, but then my group wanted to do some other game and I just sort of forgot that Ars Magica existed.
I don't think I've ever read through a core rulebook before that actively tried to get potential new players to put it down and walk away from it forever, but boy Ars Magica fucking does a great job at that.
Basically, unless you had prior knowledge of Ars Magica or are getting the book because you actually got into an Ars Magica group (which I can't believe there are many of, worldwide), the 5th edition rulebook is seemingly written to dissuade you from getting into it.
The book doesn't explain things – it mentions things.
For example, it mentions magi, but doesn't explain how people become magi (not unless you're bouncing around the book, collating bits about the Gift here, crumbs about Gauntlets and apprenticeships there). You would think that should have been the first fucking thing the book should have gone into, but David Chart preferred to shart a bunch of crap about the Order of Hermes' 8th century background (game is set in the 13th century, btw), instead.
It mentions Companions, Grogs and covenfolk, but doesn't bother explaining how magi can gather such people around them (what with the Gift turning you into a People Repellent). No, fuck it, you just have companions. May seem like a minor detail, but at least one miserly sentence about it is very much needed considering how magi are, as mentioned, not great at interacting with mundanes and how you're apparently supposed to go through Grogs like socks.
I'm guessing maybe this stuff may have either been gone into back in YouHadtoBeThere Edition or it never was explained and nobody cared – either way, the book seems to assume that you already know all this, because it certainly isn't written for someone who is just learning what magi are and how to play one.
In general, the book is written and structured as if it's just the Patch Notes for an older edition, laid out for the benefit of veteran players.
Another thing about this book is that it has a fucking attitude.
Again and again, the book says things like "oh, this will probably be a little too complicated for you. You can't really be trusted with something like this." – it does so when it comes to Character Creation, suggesting that new players shouldn't try to create their own characters, but use one of many horrid Templates laid out in the character creation section, instead.
I actually got stumped trying to figure out the basics. I just wanted to create a character and a Covenant so I could learn the system by testing it solo – but the Covenant creation rules are… not laid out in a way written for someone who doesn't already know what they're on about.
Am I just stupid, or is the book just… not written in a way that a player new to the system is supposed to figure out except by intense fucking study?
In the end, I just couldn't be Arsed with this Magica (fucking gottem, bois).
Just to salt the wound, it reminded me of how some fanboys tried to do a Kickstarter for an Ars Magica video game that one time almost a decade ago and the best they could come up with for a pathetic Trailer looked more like a commercial trying to sell a product that solves an incredibly specific problem that only a tiny fraction of a subsection of the population might have… (their Kickstarter failed - although, amazingly, some people did burn some money on it...)
