ARS MAGICA STRATEGIES

Introduction
I was thinking a bit about how magic might influence military tactics, and I got to thinking about what
strategies a single magus, in Ars Magica, might use in various sorts of battles.
Eventually, I got around to thinking about the typical sort of battle that a magus facesalone, with a
shield grog and a handful of companions, against opposition thats usually stronger in terms of numbers,
at the very least.
What follows is a list of ideas suitable for this sort of battle. The terminology is that of Ars Magica; the
ideas, however, ought to be applicable to any RPG that utilizes typical fantasy magic. The power levels
dealt with are relatively low (in Ars Magica terms); this is meant to be applicable to the sort of magus one
typically sees in the early/middle stages of a Saga.

Spellcasting
A magus biggest enemy in anything but the shortest of skirmishes is Fatigue. You only get five Fatigue
levels, and they can go quickly, particularly since the more you get Fatigued, the easier it becomes to get
even more Fatigued.
It is, obviously, best to have Formulaic spells prepared. They should be as low-level as possible, so that
they can be cast without expending Fatigue. You should, preferably, be able to cast them without words or
gestures, so they can be used while maintaining an Invisibility of the Standing Wizard (PeIm 15). The
spells listed below are all level 25 or below; Ive tried to keep as many of them as possible to level 20 or
below.
Fast-cast defenses are frequently a waste. If you need to fast-cast, youve probably already done something
wrong. You shouldnt be fast-casting against weapon attacks; thats what your shield grog, and ward
spells, are for. If you spend your rounds fending off weapon attacks, youre not contributing to anything
other than self-defense, and youre Fatiguing yourself to boot.
Fast-casting against magical attacks isnt a great idea, either; in order to stop the attack, you have to
achieve half its Penetration Total or greater. This means, for defense against spells cast by other Hermetic
magi, that, effectively, your spellcasting total must be equal to the attackers. If youre not a specialist in
the same sort of defense thats applicable to the other fellows probably-specialized attack, the fast-cast is
going to be worse than useless. Better to invest skill points in Parma Magica instead, and get your Corpus,
Mentem, and Ignem scores up (since most magical attacks blocked by Parma take one of these three
Forms). Fast-cast attacks against other Hermetic magi are likely to be ineffectual unless youre a specialist
or your opposition has a Parma weakness.

Self-Defense
If youre busy defending yourself, youre not going to be of any use to anyone else. In general, you ought
to have a shield grog who doesnt leave your side; hes there to interpose himself between The Bad Guys
and you.
You can help matters by having ward spells prepared. Repel the Wooden Shafts (ReHe 10) and similar
spells are extremely useful. These spells should preferably be at level 15 or 20; if all youre doing is
blocking a single attack, you might as well just have your shield grog do it, unless youre just looking for a
bit of extra reassurance. Since these wards are Concentration-duration, youll want Maintain the
Demanding Spell (ReVi Gen). I think level 15 is about ideal for these spells; this makes it fairly unlikely
that youll become Fatigued from casting them.
Wizards, particularly wizards shooting bolts of flame, might as well have large signs painted over their
heads saying Kill Me. Being inconspicuous, therefore, is highly advantageous. The obvious trick is going
invisible; Invisibility of the Standing Wizard (PeIm 15) does this trick nicely, but it prevents you from
moving. (As stated above, this is why its good to have spells that you can cast without words or gestures.)

Shroud Magic (MuVi Gen), at level 10 or 15 (it affects up to double its own level), complements this
nicely, making it difficult to tell where magical effects are coming from.
The Concentration skill is an absolutely necessary investment. Being able to make the requisite 9+ roll for
casting Vim meta-magics is important.
Similarly, one can simply not be where the attack hits. Image from the Wizard Torn (ReIm 20) can prove
useful, as long as you dont mind not being able to cast further spells. Wizards Sidestep (ReIm 20) is even
better than ward spells, since its Sun, not Concentration, duration, and deflects any number of attacks
each round.
Finally, theres Circling Winds of Protection (ReAu 20); while this makes attacking you very difficult, it
also makes it difficult for your shield grog to protect you. However, since you can simply cast this and not
Concentrate (it last for five rounds after you stop concentrating), it can be somewhat more useful than
standard ward spells.

Party Defense
This basically boils down to, make sure your side can attack, but try to prevent the opposition from
attacking you. Defense in the sense of stopping attacks is difficult; its better to prevent those attacks
from being made in the first place.
Putting a barrier between yourself and the enemy is reasonably good way to go; it forces the combat to
turn to missiles, and it protects those people in the party who lack combat skills. Spells which immobilize
the enemy are even better.
For outdoor situations, where theres fertile earth around, Trap of the Entwining Vines (CrHe 15) makes
for a good immobilization spell, and Wall of Thorns (CrHe 20) makes an excellent barrier spell. Weavers
Trap of Webs (CrAn 20) is even better, though, particularly since it can perform the functions of both of
those spells, without needing fertile earth around (though making the webs into a wall requires something
to hang it from). Trap of the Entwining Vines only catches those who are within the area when the spell is
cast; Weavers Trap of Webs continues to act like a barrier and entraps those who walk into it even after
the spell is cast. The web strands from the latter are as strong as iron; the Strength roll, as with the vines
spell, is 12+, and it takes three rounds of edged-weapon attack to hack a victim free, as opposed to the
Strength roll of 9+ or four Body Levels worth of edged-weapon damage to force ones way through the
Wall of Thorns, thus making the Animal spell far more effective, particularly since fire is ineffectual
against the webs, but quite effective against the plants.
Rampart of Protecting Earth (CrTe 20) is fairly useful, also, but it certainly doesnt pack the punch of any
of the three spells listed above. The Earth Split Asunder (ReTe 25) is a far superior alternative; placing
this in a semi-circle arc in front of the party is extremely useful. Note, however, that this does require
Concentration for all three rounds of the spell, but is not Concentration in duration; thus, it cannot be
maintained via Maintain the Demanding Spell. Therefore, if you cast this, make sure you have sufficient
Concentration (able to make a 15+ roll) to be able to continue casting spells in subsequent rounds. Pit of
the Gaping Earth (PeTe 15) is a poor mans alternative; this is useful if youre just trying to slow down
pursuit behind you, or the like.
These sorts of spells can also be used to prepare an attack, allowing you to set up your chosen battlefield in
whatever manner you wish. Clever applications of Shroud Magic can do wonders for ambushes, as can
Image Phantom (MuIm 20).

Attack
A good attack spell doesnt just cause damage, it also has other useful side-effects. Attack spells which
also serve defensive purposes are even better.
The classic attack spell is, of course, Pilum of Fire (CrIg 20). It is, however, only really effective at Near
range or less, and only affects a single target. Arc of Fiery Ribbons (CrIg 25) is only really effective at five
paces or less, though its a nice spell for sheer flashy effect. Ball of Abyssal Flame (CrIg 30) is a great
attack spell, of course, but its too high-level for our purposes here.

A far better alternative to the Pilum is Mighty Torrent of Water (CrAq 20). Not only is it a cone effect, but
it lasts for five rounds and the target can be changed each round; it does, however, suffer from the same
Concentration limitation as The Earth Split Asunder, above. Better yet, theres no penalty for range;
granted the damage is only equivalent to a Pilum at ten paces, but the knockdown effect is extremely
valuable. Finally, this is a great spell to use against enemy archers; wet bowstrings are useless.
An excellent area-attack spell is Talons of the Winds (MuAu 20); it covers a 20x40-pace area, and though
it doesnt do sufficient damage to really hurt someone in armor, it works for scattering the classic
torchlight parade, and making the life of enemy archers somewhat more difficult.
Destroying the enemys ability to fight is also worthwhile. Against a mounted opponent, Panic of the
Elephants Mouse (ReAn 15) can be effective, though if youre trying to run away, it might be more
effective, timewise, to simply put a barrier between you and your pursuers. Destroying bows, which are
generally made of wood, is trivial; Curse of the Rotted Wood (PeHe 5) will do the trick, and, multi-cast, it
can easily destroy the effectiveness of an entire group of archers. Destroy metal weapons is a matter for
Obliteration of the Metallic Barrier (PeTe 20); this spell, however, can be more effectively employed
against armor, since that also causes the target to take a substantial amount of damage.
The Obliteration is an example of the best sort of damage-causing spellone that ignores the effects of
armor. Curse of the Desert (PeAq 25) is excellent for this; in fact, its a better direct-damage spell than
any of the standard Perdo Corpus spells. Blessing of Childlike Bliss (PeMe 25) reduces the targets mind
to that of a child, effectively putting him out of a fight. The latter two spells can be boosted to Sight range
with vis; this makes them extremely useful for taking out vital targets from afar, though the cost in vis is
obviously not insignificant.
Note that with all attack spells, the major limiting factor is usually range. Few spells have anything
greater than Near range, without the use of vis to boost them; many missile weapons easily have double or
triple the Near range of effectiveness.

Cleaning Up
Always clean up after yourself. Dust to Dust (PeCo 15) works very well for this; there are many times
when you dont want to leave around evidence of a battle.

Ars Magica: Generating Beginning Magi

The Basics
When you generate a 150-point magus by the standard character generation rules, you are generating a
character fresh out of his Gauntlet (i.e., a newly-minted magus). Apprenticeship takes 15 years, and
apprentices normally begin their training between the ages of 7 and 17. This age range should be kept in
mind.
If you generate a magus near the age of 35, make sure that you will have an Intellego Corporem lab total
of at least 20, by the time you hit age 35. You will need this in order to make a Longevity Potion. You will
want this total to be as high as possible; at age 35, you will need a lab total of at least 40 in order to
guarantee that you wont suffer any aging effects.
Similarly, make sure that you have some reasonable score in Vim, if youre likely to need to enchant items
or will soon need a longevity potion, since Vim will limit the number of pawns of vis you can use in a
Season. At age 35, a longevity potion requires at least 7 pawns of vis; your Vim + Magic Theory must at
least equal this.
If you are creating a magus who is a generalist, you will probably want to emphasize Techniques over
Forms when allocating your Art scores, since Techniques are more generally useful (but dont forget that
its your Forms which provide bonuses to Resistance). The ultimate generalist beginning magus has a 6
in three of the Techniques, a 5 in the two remaining Techniques, a 3 in nine of the Forms, and a 2 in the
remaining 1 Form; this is, I believe, the most efficient allocation of points for the highest average
Technique + Form combination. However, do note that such a character is actually not all that effective,

since useful Spontaneous Magic is usually at least of level 10, and with those scores, even with a good
Intelligence, theres a good chance that Spontaneous spells wont achieve the desired level.
You will want to buy Concentration, Meditation, and Certamen; these are essential Skills (and a -3 penalty
and 3 extra botch dice are imposed if you try to use them without having them). You should also buy
Finesse and Penetration (3 extra botch dice are imposed if you try to use these Talents without having
them). Even if you only put a single Experience Point into each, it saves you from the penalties, and is
thus definitely worthwhile.
Affinities are extremely useful. Note that the bonus of a standard Affinity virtue is not equal to the cost of
that virtue; its equivalent to the score in that Affinity, which is treated like a Skill. In terms of character
concept, most magi have something that theyre particularly good at; taking an Affinity is the best way to
represent this.
It is very difficult to invent high-level spells during the early Seasons of play. At character generation
time, you can take spells that would take you Seasons to invent during play; thus, you might want to pick
out the high-level spells you want and take them at character generation time rather than trying to invent
them later. In general, unless you begin as a specialist, you will want to make sure that any spells of level
20 or higher that you definitely want your magus to have are part of your initial allotment of 150 spell
levels. Its not a bad idea to calculate your lab totals when picking out your Art scores; a lab total of 20
will allow you to invent a level 10 spell in a Season, and a lab total of 30 will allow you to invent a level
15 spell in a Season, two benchmarks to be considered when doing initial character generation.
Be wary of taking a low Stamina. Its entirely possible to take spells which fall into the Intelligence +
Technique + Form + 10 guideline of initial spells, but which you cannot reliably cast due to a low
Stamina. A magus Fatigue Levels are extremely precious; an unusually low Stamina is likely to make
Fatigue recovery frustratingly slow, as well as increasing the pace at which those Fatigue Levels are lost in
the first place.

The Hermetic Houses

Members of House Bjornaer need to buy the Virtues Heart-Beast, Will Over Form, and The Hidden Shape.
They also get the -2 Flaw, No Familiar. Its suggested that life might be simpler and fairer to Bjoraner
magi if the Troupe permits the purchase of these as a package, +1 if the form is not battle-worthy, +2 if it
is.
Members of House Bonisagus should probably take the +1 Virtue, Hermetic Prestige.
Members of House Mercere need to take the +3 Virtue, Redcap. This Virtue is not available to those who
arent members of this House.
Members of House Merinita need to take the +1 Virtue, Faerie Magic. This Virtue should probably be
available only to members of this House.
Members of House Quaesitor should, obviously, have the +1 Virtue, Quaesitor. It is extremely unusual,
however, for young members of other Houses to be Quaesitors; this is an honor normally only granted to
older magi.
Members of House Tremere should be required to take the -1 Flaw, No Sigil. This Flaw should be
available only to Tremere. Since the sigils in Tremere cascade, to hold ones own sigil requires winning
it from ones parens, who in turn must have won his, on up through the top ranks of the House.
Members of House Verditius should be required to take the -1 Flaw, Verditius Magic. This Flaw should
almost certainly not be available to anyone not of this House.

Example Magi
The 3rd Edition, as well as the House of Hermes supplement, classifies the example magi by their House.
The examples in the latter are interesting, but theyre not of much help when generating new magi; the
examples in the former are totally useless and are riddled with errors.
Ive provided, below, a number of example beginning magi tailored to do specific things; Id rather
provide utilitarian magi instead of reinforcing House stereotypes. I make no claim that these are the ideal

ways to generate such characters; I merely claim that I think these are reasonable. I have avoided using
things which StoryGuides may object to as unbalancing.
Assume that the magi below have an Intelligence of +3 and a Stamina of 0. Unless there was a good
reason to do otherwise, they have minimum scores of 3 in Corporem and Vim, and 1 in everything else
(its cheap enough to just spend a single point, usually, that its worthwhile). I have not attempted to
balance their Virtue and Flaw points.
I recommend the following set of minimum Abilities to all these magi (at the cost of 19 XP): Affinity 3 (if
they have one), Certamen 1, Concentration 3, Finesse 1, Meditation 1, Parma Magica 3, Penetration 1.
Magi who have spells that require Targeting should have greater amounts of Finesse, if possible.

The Generalist
Art Scores:
Cr
In
Mu
Pe
Re

5
5
5
5
5

An
Aq
Au
Co
He

2
2
1
5
1

Ig
Im
Me
Te
Vi

1
5
5
3

Spells:
CrAn 20
CrAq 20
CrCo 20
MuCo 10
ReCo 10
ReIm 20
ReIm 20
InMe 10
PeTe 20

Weavers Trap of Webs

Mighty Torrent of Water
The Chirurgeons Healing Touch
Eyes of the Cat
Rise of the Feathery Body
Image from the Wizard Torn
Wizards Sidestep
Sight of the Transparent Motive
Obliteration of the Metallic Barrier

Notes: This is an unfocused generalisthe has a bit of everything that might be useful. His spells are,
respectively, defensive (immobilization), offensive, healing, general utility (vision in darkness), general
utility (dealing with heights), investigatory (places), defensive (personal protection), investigatory
(people), and general utility (everything from getting rid of barriers to dealing with armored warriors).
Some frequently-used low-level Formulaic spells are included here, just because theyre so useful to have,
if one doesnt have any other large nasty spells that one wants filling that initial allotment of 150 points.

The Lab Rat

Virtues and Flaws: Adept Student (+1), Book-Learner (+1), Inventive Genius (+1), Mastered Knowledge:
Magic Theory (+4)
Art Scores:
Cr
In
Mu
Pe
Re

5
5
5
5
5

An
Aq
Au
Co
He

2
2
2
3
2

Ig
Im
Me
Te
Vi

2
2

2
9

Spells: (25 levels left)

InVi 20
Perceive the Magical Scent
MuVi 15
Shroud Magic
MuVi 15
Gather the Essence of the Beast
PeVi 25
Wind of Mundane Silence
ReVi 25
Waiting Spell
ReVi 25
Watching Ward

Notes: It is really the Virtues, and not magic-specialization choices, which make the Lab Rat. This
example also happens to be a Vim specialist, a meta-magician. This character is designed to work in
concert with other magi, boosting their capabilities with his own, which are primarily utilitarian. He could
use several more of the lower-level Vim spells, such as Scales of the Magical Weight, but these can be
invented easily enough. The remaining levels of spells should probably be used to give him one or more
more general kinds of spells.

The Sneaky Mentem Mage

Virtues and Flaws: Affinity: Mentem (+3), Quiet Magic (+2), Subtle Magic (+2)
Art Scores:
Cr
In
Mu
Pe
Re

5
6
4
5
5

An
Aq
Au
Co
He

1
1
1
3
1

Ig
Im
Me
Te
Vi

1
1

10

1
3

Spells: (15 levels left)

InCo 15
Whispers through the Black Gate
CrMe 20
Memory of the Distant Dream
InMe 25
Posing the Silent Question
InMe 30
Peering into the Mortal Mind
PeMe 20
Loss of But a Moments Memory
PeMe 25
Blessing of Childlike Bliss
Notes: This magus is designed for information-gathering and tinkering with peoples mindsfinding out
what he wants to know without letting people know that hes finding out. He also provides a reasonable
example of how to design a specialist in a single Form.

The One-Shot Kill

Virtues and Flaws: Affinity: Perdo (+4), Personal Vis Source: Perdo or Corporem (+1)
Art Scores:
Cr
In
Mu
Pe
Re

0
0
0
12
0

An
Aq
Au
Co
He

0
0
0
11
0

Ig
0
Im
2
Me
0
Te
0
Vi
2

Spells:
CrCo 20
InCo 20
PeCo 40
PeIm 30
PeMe 20
PeTe 20

The Chirurgeons Healing Touch

The Inexorable Search
Clenching Grasp of the Crushed Heart
Veil of Invisibility
Loss of But a Moments Memory
Obliteration of the Metallic Barrier

Notes: Designing a magus around a single spell is not an uncommon thing to do. Often, this is an Instant
Death spell, or its equivalent. Such magi are essentially extreme specialists in a single Technique and
Form. Typical Flambeau (Creo Ignem specialists) are easy to design; therefore, Ive made this example
a Perdo Corporem specialist; hes set up to have as much flexibility as possible, however, within his field
of specialty. Note that his Affinity score must be 4 or higher in order to legally take that Clenching Grasp
and Veil as initial spells. This fellow is essentially an assassinlocate someone, hunt them invisibly, and
then kill them. The Loss and Obliteration work well for dealing with guards, as well; the Healing Touch

takes care of any wounds that might be sustained in the process, and these three spells give this magus
some reasonable flexibility in doing things other than killing people. A Dust to Dust (PeCo 15) would be
extremely useful for corpse disposal, but we dont bother with taking it as an initial Formulaic, since he
can easily invent it in a Season; the same is true of some other low-level PeCo spells that would round out
his repertoire.

The Transformation Master

Virtues and Flaws: Affinity: Muto (+4), Personal Vis Source: Muto (+1)
Art Scores:
Cr
In
Mu
Pe
Re

3
An
3
3
Aq
2
12
Au
3
3
Co
3
3
He
3

Ig
Im
Me
Te
Vi

2
3

3
2

Spells:
MuAn 20
MuAu 20
MuCo 20
MuHe 20
MuHe 20
MuIm 20
MuTe 15
MuTe 15

Steed of Vengeance
Talons of the Winds
Preternatural Growth and Shrinking
Piercing Shaft of Wood
Thaumaturgical Transformation of Plants to Iron
Image Phantom
Hands of the Grasping Earth
Object of Increased Size

Notes: This is an example of how to specialize someone in a single Technique. This magus is fairly good
at a bit of everything; hes an example of how one can specialize heavily in something, yet have a very
broad-based repertoire of effects.

The Weather Mage

Virtues and Flaws: Affinity: Weather (+2)
Art Scores: (13 points left)
Cr
5
An
1
Ig
1
In
1
Aq
8
Im
1
Mu
1
Au
8
Me
1
Pe
5
Co
3
Te
1
Re
5
He
1
Vi
3
Spells: (25 levels left)
CrAq 20
Mighty Torrent of Water
PeAq 25
Curse of the Desert
ReAq 20
Waves of Drowning and Smashing
CrAu 25
Clouds of Rain and Thunder
InAu 15
Whispering Winds
ReAu 20
Circling Winds of Protection
Notes: This is really more of an example of how to specialize a magus in two Forms, in this case, Aquam
and Auram. Most of the really serious weather spells are very slow-acting; many are high-level rituals.
Nonetheless, the magus here has some basic flexibility. He can raise a storm, and wreak havoc with
anything on the water. The Circling Winds are excellent protection in combat, and he has two excellent
attack spells, one useful against multiple targets, the other useful against single targets. The Whispering
Winds is very useful in non-combat situations, since it allows conversations to be overheard. We try to

concentrate on taking spells in a limited number of Techniques, so we dont need to worry about initially
buying up all the Techniques.