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One of the biggest problems facing Ars Magica storyguides is the creation of older, more experienced characters. With the amount of detail in the system, the huge variety of ways in which characters can gain in skill and power, and the almost endless range of circumstances in which they can do it, it is very hard to create statistics for non-player characters that accurately reflect their basic level of power. One way to do it is to create the characters' covenant, generate the characters as normal and then work through their advancement season by season, year by year, for each year of their lives. It is a long, daunting process, and hardly one that can be standardized and applied to every character you might want to create, and so what follows is an attempt to provide a shortcut for determining non-player character advancement.
This system operates on the understanding that non-player characters will be able to improve their Abilities and Arts in much the same way that starting player characters generate their beginning scores, in other words, by spending 150 points each on Arts and Spells, and by assigning a variable number of experience points to Abilities. It is assumed, therefore, that every year non-player characters have 10 experience points each to spend on Arts and Spells, and a number of experience points for Abilities equal to their total starting amounts divided by 20, rounded down. For example, a magus created according to the generic template and who is assumed to have been initiated at the age of 20 will get 3 experience points every year. The magus' starting Abilities are worth 55 points, making a total of 75 when age is added, and 75 divided by 20 equals 3.75. When the points for Arts, Spells and Abilities for every year of the non-player character's life are added up, you have the total number that the character has to spend in each category. These points are called Advancement Totals. They can be spent in the same way as in ordinary character creation, except that Formal Knowledges are counted as Art scores rather than ordinary Abilities, and magi use their Lab totals rather than Technique + Form+ Intelligence + 10 to determine if they can learn spells or not. Due to the effort involved, spells that take more than one season to invent cost the level multiplied by the number of seasons needed for research. Furthermore, other things that a magus can create in the laboratory, such as potions, invested devices and bond qualities for familiars, have an experience point cost that must be subtracted from the Spell Advancement Total. This cost is invariably equal to the level of a given effect, or the cost of a bond quality. Obviously, non-player characters are not going to have the benefit of their current Art and Ability scores for things that they did long in the past. For every notable achievement such as binding a familiar, creating a longevity potion, learning or inventing a spell, assume that the scores for the non-player character's Lab total at the time of the research were somewhere between his starting and current ones. For example, a magus who had an initial Corpus score of 5 that is now 10 might have had a score of 7 when making a longevity potion.
The basic system above makes the somewhat sweeping assumption that all magi lead identical lives and live in covenants that are exactly the same in terms of power and resources. Things just do not work that way in Ars Magica, as the library, magical aura, vis supply and lab facilities of non-player characters' covenants will have a huge impact upon how quickly they gain power. To reflect this, the Art and Spell Advancement Totals can be modified according to the table below. These modifiers do not apply to Abilities, as many of them cannot really be improved in the laboratory.
| Spring, Weak (base for player character covenants) | x0.75 |
| Spring, Moderate | x0.8 |
| Spring, Powerful | x0.9 |
| Summer, Weak (base for player character covenants) | x1 |
| Summer, Moderate | x1.2 |
| Summer, Powerful | x1.3 |
| Autumn, Weak (base for player character covenants) | x1.4 |
| Autumn, Moderate | x1.5 |
| Autumn, Powerful | x1.6 |
| Winter, Moderate (base for player character covenants) | x1.4 |
| Winter, Weak | x1.2 |
The annual Advancement Totals for Arts, spells and Abilities are modified according to the multipliers above, which can change at the storyguide's discretion. If, for instance, you decide that a non-player character's powerful autumn covenant has become an only moderately powerful winter one, then the modifier will slip from x1.6 to x1.4.
A 70 year-old Flambeau magus who has spent all his life terrorizing the local countryside is going to have a very different range of Abilities and powers from a Bonisagus magus of the same age who has not been away from his laboratory since the end of his apprenticeship. Time spent on adventures is going to have an adverse effect on the amount you can learn by studying, and time spent in the lab or the library is going to affect the amount you can learn by stealing dragon's eggs, politicking at the tribunal or playing riddle games with faerie princes. Once again, modifiers are required to determine how a non-player character's studies or adventures are going to affect his or her Advancement Totals. These can be applied either annually or to the whole amount. This system assumes that the non-player character is only spending an average of 3 seasons on activities that will improve Ability and Art scores, such as study and training. The fourth season is generally assumed to be taken up with other business, such as training apprentices, writing books or laboratory work that goes wrong and yields no results. However, there may be times when you do want to assume that the non-player character is indeed putting the whole year into study, practice or adventures. If so, use the 4-season Lifestyle Modifiers table instead of the regular one. It probably is not very realistic to assume that the non-player character is doing nothing more than reading books, learning spells or studying swordplay (if the character is really that boring, what are they doing in your saga?). The best option is to divide the non-player character's life into years when he or she is using three seasons to study, and others when he or she is using four. Work out the Advancement Totals separately, and then just add them up.
| Scholarly | x1.5 to Art and Spell Totals x0 to Ability Total |
| Studious | x1 to Art and Spell Totals x0.5 to Ability Total |
| Worldly | x0.75 to Art and Spell Totals x0.75 to Ability Total |
| Bold | x0.5 to Art and Spell Totals x1 to Ability Total |
| Adventurous | x0 to Art and Spell Totals x1.5 to Ability Total |
| Scholarly | x2 to Art and Spell Totals x0 to Ability Total |
| Studious | x1.5 to Art and Spell Totals x0.5 to Ability Total |
| Well-rounded | x1 to Art, Spell and Ability Totals |
| Well-practiced | x0.5 to Art and Spell Totals x1.5 to Ability Total |
| Highly Trained | x0 to Art and Spell Totals x2 to Ability Total |
To deal with the accumulated effects of aging relatively quickly for non-player characters, roll ten 10-sided dice and note the numbers rolled. Multiply each result by the number of decades in the non-player character's life after the age of 35 to yield the number of times that a given result on the Aging Table (ArM4, page 181) occurs. It will be necessary to determine beforehand what effects longevity potions, social class and the covenant environment will have, as these will modify aging rolls according to the normal Ars Magica rules. The effect of a longevity potion should be determined according to the Lab total of the magus at the time when it was brewed, rather than the current one.
Note the amount of Twilight points that magi gain as a result of their Vim scores and use of longevity potions. Magi who constantly cut corners in the lab and go off on adventures can expect to have quite a few more, whereas those who play it safe probably will not. To determine how many more they have, roll a ten-sided die and refer to the following chart.
| Lifestyle | Risk of Twilight (d10 simple roll) | Points Gained |
| Placid | 1 | Risk of Twilight roll +1 |
| Cautious | 1-2 | Risk of Twilight roll +2 |
| Typical | 1-4 | Risk of Twilight roll +4 |
| Adventurous | 1-6 | Risk of Twilight roll +6 |
| Reckless | 1-8 | Risk of Twilight roll +8 |
| Deranged | 1-10 | Risk of Twilight roll +10 |
The Risk of Twilight roll result also determines how many times the magus has entered temporary Twilight. Determine the non-player character's Enigmatic Wisdom at the time of each of these episodes, and then roll for Twilight control as usual.
Tarquin, filius of Avarret, follower of Bonisagus, is now 50 years old. He was initiated at the age of 21 following apprenticeship at Durenmar, a powerful Autumn covenant in terms of its resources. He is more of a politically inclined generalist than a theoretician, so his starting Art scores are Creo 4, Intellego 7, Muto 1, Perdo 1, Rego 8, Imaginem 7, Mentem 7 and Vim 7. He has the Virtue Highly Trained, so his starting Abilities are Magic Theory 5, Order of Hermes Lore 4, Parma Magica 2, Scribe Latin 3, Speak Latin 5, Speak German 4, Finesse 1, Penetration 1, Awareness 1, Charm 2, Folk Ken 1, Guile 1, Concentration 1, Disputatio 1, Lectio 1, Certamen 2, Bargain 1, Etiquette 2, Intrigue 2, Leadership 3, Ride 1, Hermetic Law 2, Speak French 2, Speak Greek 1 and Speak Italian 2.
Give or take the efforts of a season or two, he has base Art and Spell Advancement Totals of 290 experience points, and with a total of 96 experience points spent on starting Abilities, he gets 4 points to spend on increasing them every year. Thus his Ability Advancement Total is 116 points. Durenmar is a powerful Autumn covenant, so his Art and Spell Advancement totals are multiplied by 1.6, and as Tarquin is a worldly sort his Art, Spell and Ability Advancement Totals will all be multiplied by .75. After all these modifications, therefore, he has a total of 348 experience points to spend on Arts and Formal Knowledges, 348 points to spend on spells and 87 points to spend on other Abilities.
The fresh mountain air and the opulent lifestyle at Durenmar is going to modify Tarquin's aging rolls by �3, and when he made his longevity potion at the age of 36 he had an Intellego Corpus Lab Total of 30, giving him a further modifier of �6. The storyguide rolls 1, 1, 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 10 and 10 for Tarquin's first decade beyond the age of 35. With a total modifier of �6 applying to the rolls made for his 30s and �5 for the rolls made in his 40s, it will be quite a while before he has to worry about getting old.
Tarquin is not very theoretically inclined, and he does not much like the sound of what he has heard about Wizard's Twilight. His attitude here is generally cautious. The storyguide rolls 8 to determine the risk of Twilight. Tarquin has not had any Twilights yet, although he does have 1 Twilight point after taking his longevity potion and another 2 points after attaining a score of 10 in Vim.
All the storyguide has to do now is creatively decide what Tarquin's relevant scores were when he was learning his spells, choose some that reflect those limits, and assign his Advancement Totals to his current Ability and Art scores. The results look something like this�
Characteristics: Int +3, Per +2, Str +2, Sta +2, Pre +4, Com +3, Dex +3, Qik +2 (All unashamedly good. Pity it wasn't my player character that I was rolling for.)
Age: 50
Size: 0
Confidence: 5
Virtues and Flaws: Highly Trained +3, Extra Arts +1, Gentle Gift +1, Hermetic Prestige +1, Knack with Magic Theory +1, Self-Confident +1, Social Contacts +1, Strong-Willed +1, Deleterious Circumstances (Uncommon and Major) -2, Enemies �2, Overconfident -2, Magical Deficiency (Uncommon and Minor: Animal) -1, Driving Goal -1, Oversensitive -1, Deep Sleeper -1.
Personality Traits: Overconfident +3, Politician +3
Reputations: Sharp-minded +3, with Order of Hermes
| Weapon/Attack | Init | Atk | Dfn | Dam | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brawling (unarmed) | 0 | 0 | -1 | +2 | +2 |
Soak: +2
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5 Unconscious
Body Levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Incapacitated
Abilities: Awareness 2, Bargain 2, Certamen 4, Charm 3, Concentration 3, Disputatio 2, Etiquette 4, Finesse 2, Folk Ken 3, Guile 3, Hermetic Law 4, Intrigue 3, Leadership 4, Lectio 1, Magic Theory 6, Order of Hermes Lore 4, Parma Magica 4, Penetration 2, Rhine Tribunal Lore 4, Ride 1, Scribe Latin 4, Speak Arabic 1, Speak French 3, Speak German 5, Speak Greek 2, Speak Italian 3, Speak Latin 5
| Arts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cr 6 | In 10 | Mu 5 | Pe 5 | Re 11 |
| An 5 | Aq 5 | Au 5 | Co 8 | He 5 |
| Ig 5 | Im 10 | Me 12 | Te 5 | Vi 11 |
Twilight Points: 3
Spells Known (starting spells are in italics):
Jupiter's Resounding Blow (CrAu 10/+13)
Circling Winds of Protection (ReAu 15/+18)
Lifting the Dangling Puppet (ReCo 15/+21)
Flash of the Scarlet Flames (CrIg 15/+13)
Pilum of Fire (CrIg 20/+13)
Aura of Ennobled Presence (MuIm 10/+17)
Wizard's Sidestep (ReIm 10/+23)
Perception of the Conflicting Motives (InMe 15/+24)
Thoughts Within Babble (InMe 25/+24)
Peering Into the Mortal Mind (InMe 30/+24)
Subtle Shift of Heart (MuMe 10/+19)
Enchantment of Detachment (MuMe 15/+19)
Coerce the Spirits of the Night (ReMe 10/+25)
Aura of Rightful Authority (ReMe 20/+25)
Incantation of Summoning the Dead (ReMe 25/+25)
Calm the Motion of the Heart (PeMe 15/+19)
Scales of the Magical Weight (InVi 5/+23)
Sense the Nature of Vis (InVi 5/+23)
Wizard's Boost (Mentem) (MuVi 15/+18)
Wizard's Communion (MuVi 20/+18)
Demon's Eternal Oblivion (PeVi 15/+18)
Circular Ward Against Demons (ReVi 15/+24)
Maintaining the Demanding Spell (ReVi 20/+24 - cost 100 points as it took 4 seasons to invent)
Opening the Intangible Tunnel (ReVi 20/+24)
Watching Ward (ReVi 15/+25)
Significant Creations: Longevity Potion (InCo30, -6 to aging rolls)
And there you have it � a more than likely imperfect method for creating Ars Magica non-player characters, but given the staggering amount of variables inherent in the character advancement system, it is hard to imagine one that could actually be objectively perfect. Nevertheless, if you try this system out and have any suggestions for improvements, feel free to send them my way.
Text copyright © Simon Foston 2003.