Book Rules - Revision history

AndrewG: /* Book Rules from A Family Affair */ minor clarification

2015-10-17T21:20:08Z

Book Rules from A Family Affair: minor clarification

AndrewG: Revised collections rules

2015-10-17T21:19:25Z

Revised collections rules

AndrewG at 14:48, 17 October 2015

2015-10-17T14:48:08Z

AndrewG: /* Book Rules from A Family Affair */

2015-10-17T14:47:21Z

Book Rules from A Family Affair

AndrewG: Added new book rules for A Family Affair

2015-10-17T14:40:26Z

Added new book rules for A Family Affair

AndrewG: Added category

2012-10-16T20:26:35Z

Added category

AndrewG: Highlighted the rules

2011-05-14T11:51:23Z

Highlighted the rules

AndrewG: Created

2011-02-21T17:04:26Z

Created

New page

= Quality of Books =

In the [[Saga of Stranggore]], there is no minimum score in Speak Language required to write a book.

We use an alternative formula for determining the Quality of a book:

'''Quality of Tractatus = Author's (Ability score or Art score/5) + Communication + (Speak Language score - 5)'''

and language specialties ''do not'' apply to writing books.

= Tractatus Only =

All books in the [[Saga of Stranggore]] are tractatus. We don't use summae at all.

The main reason for this is playability. A tractatus is valuable to any magus, so it's always good to have in the library. Summae are of value only to relatively low-skilled magi. We don't want players to feel gyped because we spent covenant build points to buy a summa their characters can't use.

Also, we don't really agree with the model of learning presented by Ars Magica Fifth Edition. Having books that cover all relevant material up to a certain Art or Ability level arguably makes some sense for modern textbooks and the like. We feel that medieval books were few enough and short enough (remember, they were hand-written) that every scholar would potentially learn something from every book, even if he had already read similar books (for example, bestiaries). Therefore we think the rules for tractatus have more of the medieval feel we're looking for.

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 You can improve a collection by adding additional texts. These can be ordinary texts or exceptional texts. If the Level of the text is higher than the Level of the collection, the Level of the whole collection improves by one point. If the Quality of the text is higher than the Quality of the collection, the Quality of the whole collection improves by one point. If both the Level and Quality of the text are higher than the corresponding scores of the collection, the collection improves by one point in both scores.
-A single book can never add more than one point to the overall Level and Quality of the collection.
+A single book can never improve the overall Level or Quality of the collection by more than one point.
 Note that it's possible to add a single book to a collection and have the resulting collection be less effective for study than the single book was. For example, if the collection has Level 9 and Quality 10 and the covenant adds a text of Level 12, Quality 12, the whole collection would increase to L 10, Q 11, which is inferior to the scores of the new book. In this case, it's to the covenant's advantage to just use the single good book and ignore the collection. In effect, they are starting a new collection based on the new, superior book.

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 == Library Collections ==
-Usually, magi study from collections of books, not individual tomes.
+Magi usually study from collections of books. Studying collections is exactly like studying from summae, on page 165 of ArM5.
-Collections function like summae. They have a Level and a Quality. One difference is that characters cannot write collections (summae).
+You can improve a collection by adding additional texts. These can be ordinary texts or exceptional texts. If the Level of the text is higher than the Level of the collection, the Level of the whole collection improves by one point. If the Quality of the text is higher than the Quality of the collection, the Quality of the whole collection improves by one point. If both the Level and Quality of the text are higher than the corresponding scores of the collection, the collection improves by one point in both scores.
-Individual books are like tractatus. Characters can write them using the normal rules. However, the only use of individual books are to improve a collection.
+A single book can never add more than one point to the overall Level and Quality of the collection.
-To improve a collection, treat the Level of the collection as if it were an Art score. Any tractatus added to the collection adds experience points to that score. Whenever the collection has accrued enough experience points to advance to the next level, you may improve the collection as follows:
+Note that it's possible to add a single book to a collection and have the resulting collection be less effective for study than the single book was. For example, if the collection has Level 9 and Quality 10 and the covenant adds a text of Level 12, Quality 12, the whole collection would increase to L 10, Q 11, which is inferior to the scores of the new book. In this case, it's to the covenant's advantage to just use the single good book and ignore the collection. In effect, they are starting a new collection based on the new, superior book.
-* You can raise the Level of the collection by one point, to a limit of 20 for Arts or 8 for Abilities.
+If you are tracking the individual books in a collection -- for example, if some of the books were written by player magi -- you can always have a character take a book out of the collection and study it as a summa, if that is to the character's advantage. If you are not tracking individual books, then just assume that there is no single book in the collection that is superior to the collection itself.
-* You can raise the Quality of the collection instead, to a limit of 22.
 == Exceptional Texts ==
-Ancient scrolls, rune stones, bottled dreams, and other esoteric sources of learning are exceptions to the usual book rules. They can be studied like tractatus from the ArM5 rules. Once deciphered (if necessary) they can also be added to the collection ''and'' still studied individually.
+Ancient scrolls, rune stones, bottled dreams, enchanted texts whose pictures and diagrams change with the Zodiac, and other esoteric sources of learning are exceptions to the usual book rules. They can be studied like tractatus from the ArM5 rules; they have no maximum level.
 == Writing Books ==
 = Book Rules from the Saga of Stranggore =

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 = Book Rules from the Saga of Stranggore =
 In the [[Saga of Stranggore]], there is no minimum score in Speak Language required to write a book.
@@ Line 33: / Line 34: @@
 and language specialties only apply to writing books if the character has specialized in using that language in reference to the specific Art or Ability that is the subject of the book.
-= Tractatus Only =
+== Tractatus Only ==
     All books in the [[Saga of Stranggore]] are tractatus. We don't use summae at all.

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 * You can raise the Level of the collection by one point, to a limit of 20 for Arts or 8 for Abilities.
 * You can raise the Quality of the collection instead, to a limit of 22.
 = Book Rules from the Saga of Stranggore =

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:40, 17 October 2015
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	= Quality of ~~Books~~ =	+	= Book Rules from A Family Affair =
		+	In the saga of [[A Family Affair]], we're handling books differently than we did in the Saga of Stranggore.
		+
		+	== Library Collections ==
		+	Usually, magi study from collections of books, not individual tomes.
		+
		+	Collections function like summae. They have a Level and a Quality. One difference is that characters cannot write collections (summae).
		+
		+	Individual books are like tractatus. Characters can write them using the normal rules. However, the only use of individual books are to improve a collection.
		+
		+	To improve a collection, treat the Level of the collection as if it were an Art score. Any tractatus added to the collection adds experience points to that score. Whenever the collection has accrued enough experience points to advance to the next level, you may improve the collection as follows:
		+
		+	* You can raise the Level of the collection by one point, to a limit of 20 for Arts or 8 for Abilities.
		+	* You can raise the Quality of the collection instead, to a limit of 22.
		+
		+	= Book Rules from the Saga of Stranggore =

	In the [[Saga of Stranggore]], there is no minimum score in Speak Language required to write a book.		In the [[Saga of Stranggore]], there is no minimum score in Speak Language required to write a book.

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:26, 16 October 2012
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	Also, we don't really agree with the model of learning presented by Ars Magica Fifth Edition. Having books that cover all relevant material up to a certain Art or Ability level arguably makes some sense for modern textbooks and the like. We feel that medieval books were few enough and short enough (remember, they were hand-written) that every scholar would potentially learn something from every book, even if he had already read similar books (for example, bestiaries). Therefore we think the rules for tractatus have more of the medieval feel we're looking for.		Also, we don't really agree with the model of learning presented by Ars Magica Fifth Edition. Having books that cover all relevant material up to a certain Art or Ability level arguably makes some sense for modern textbooks and the like. We feel that medieval books were few enough and short enough (remember, they were hand-written) that every scholar would potentially learn something from every book, even if he had already read similar books (for example, bestiaries). Therefore we think the rules for tractatus have more of the medieval feel we're looking for.
		+
		+	[[Category:House Rules]]

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 We use an alternative formula for determining the Quality of a book:
-'''Quality of Tractatus = Author's (Ability score or Art score/5) + Communication + (Speak Language score - 5)'''
+   '''Quality of Tractatus = Author's (Ability score or Art score/5) + Communication'''
+                             '''+ (Speak Language score - 5)'''
 = Tractatus Only =
-All books in the [[Saga of Stranggore]] are tractatus. We don't use summae at all.
+   All books in the [[Saga of Stranggore]] are tractatus. We don't use summae at all.
 The main reason for this is playability. A tractatus is valuable to any magus, so it's always good to have in the library. Summae are of value only to relatively low-skilled magi. We don't want players to feel gyped because we spent covenant build points to buy a summa their characters can't use.
 Also, we don't really agree with the model of learning presented by Ars Magica Fifth Edition. Having books that cover all relevant material up to a certain Art or Ability level arguably makes some sense for modern textbooks and the like. We feel that medieval books were few enough and short enough (remember, they were hand-written) that every scholar would potentially learn something from every book, even if he had already read similar books (for example, bestiaries). Therefore we think the rules for tractatus have more of the medieval feel we're looking for.