Jim C Wilson: School's In!
Ars Academia went live this morning on RPGNow.com! This is our 4th product in the Hands of Fate series, this one focusing on the roles and abilities of Sorcerers. It offers an in depth look at life in the Academia Alchemica, the Empire’s elite school for Sorcery and Alchemy, from Apprentice level all the way to Arch-Mage; the masters of Sorcery.
We’ve got more complex methods for casting spells, such as Rituals, which are spells that are cast through successive rounds and take a toll on the caster. Once committed to a Ritual the Sorcerer faces a very real risk of literally blowing themselves up or tearing themselves to pieces with their magic as they channel excessive amounts of Aether, the substance of magic. The same process can be applied to Benediction spells, and will be extrapolated in an up and coming supplement focusing on Benedictions.
Ars Academia offers insight into the various power plays and political manoeuvring going on within the tome lined walls and dusty bookshelves. It details a few of the factions within a faction that are the cause of much turmoil and strife for Sorcerer characters. There are adventure hooks suitable for Sorcerous adventurers and their minions…I mean party companions…and a whole slew of magical themed monsters to throw at them.
For the budding crafter there are new magical properties to apply to weapons, armour and trinkets. New potion and scroll effects, and ways to give the Alchemist and Scribe an advantage in his or her field.
Lastly, as the greatest challenge in playing a Sorcerer is thinking up ways that their free-style magic can affect the world, the supplement offers over 30 example spells; from 1 or 2 Modification spells all the way up to 10 Modifications!
· Due to much anticipation and demand for an extrapolation of the Enchanter and their abilities I’ll be working on the Enchantments Supplement, Title TBA, so stay tuned for info on that little gem.
· Animism deserves as much treatment as the other magic styles and I can’t wait to see what we can come up with, providing new tools and Spirits for our warriors of the great spirits!
· A book devoted to new religions, providing a framework for Benediction characters or GMs to either build their own religions, or adopt one of the ones in the book. It should also have a ton of flavoured information for the game world, for those who wish to focus their games around religious turmoil.
· The Book of Artefacts is in production; this supplement will provide GMs with everything from small powered, everyday magical items that people take for granted - such as ever burning candles - to truly world shattering artefacts of terrible power – such as Lokan’s personal Spear. Devices that can be used as flavour in campaigns, or as pivotal plot devices that drive the characters to do what they do.