The Ars Magica game system template provides whole-life character
management, from creation, to study and training, to spell research and
enchanting magical devices. Metacreator automatically handles all aging
rolls and records their effects in a permanent character history.

The package includes all Virtues, Flaws, Abilities, Spells, etc., from Ars
Magica, 4th Edition, The Wizard's Grimoire, Faeries, Hedge Magic, The Dragon
and the Bear, Ordo Nobilis, Ultima Thule, Kabbalah, A Medieval Tapestry, The
Mythic Seas, The Mysteries and Blood and Sand.

Printing options include: standard Ars Magica character sheets, magus
grimoires, character history, and multiple-character summaries that keep all
relevant combat statistics at hand. You can also output character
information in HTML and RTF format for posting your characters on the web or
inclusion in word processing documents.

And like all Metacreator products, you can add your own data for Virtues,
Flaws, Abilities, spells, equipment, etc.

You can also use standard Metacreator functionality to fully customize or
create your own print templates and character sheets, and even create
completely new game systems.

You can get the Metacreator/Ars Magica bundle at
http://www.alteregosoftware.com for $24.95. If you already own Metacreator,
you can get the Ars Magica game system template for $14.95. If you own a
previous version of Metacreator or the previously released Ars Magica game
system template, you can upgrade to Metacreator for $12.95.

Peggy Kvam
Alter Ego Software, Inc.

Jere

I've been using the program, and am amazed and delighted with how well it works. (Especially as I was, for instance, working up the 4th ed. character stats for the Bats of Mercille...)

A great tool and I know I've just scratched the surface. Does the ful program include library logging features? A plugin for covenants would be fantastic as would one to quickly generate a random (but sensible grog) - I guess we could set up a base template and then...

Anyway, I'm looking forward to using it properly.

There is a way to do insta-grog. I have one at home that produces a grog cookie-cutter style and I just need to select age and assigna few extra xp to.

Jere

On a different tack:

How do you use it in your game? I mean, do you generate the character using the tool and then print it out and just keep changing the hard copy or do you use the advancement features and print a new sheet every now and then?

I can see that it would be great for a story guide to keep track of the characters...

I'm looking forward to the dawn of intelligent electronic paper. Less printing and more "interactive" than old fashioned wood pulp.

Especially grog and companions. As a troupe we've found it immsensely helps us in keeping these guys up-to-date, a problem we've had in the past. I rememebr manya s ession where the first 30 minutes would be spent updating (and oftentimes creating) new grogs and other custdoes because noone had looked at them since the last time theyw ere played, which could have been 5 or 6 years ago game time. Ars Magica metacreator ahs amde this a lot easier to do. And so far its happening more out of session. Which is allowing more time on personality buildin for the grogs. I like it.

The best thing for me about metacreator is it makes cons a whole lot easier. I used to dread making the characters for the con one-shots I run (I tend to run 5 or 6 a year). I just did it for an upcoming con (in January) and it was very effortless.

Jere

We are currently playing with just a group of itinerent magi and no grogs, so I was looking forward to the creation side of things when we need grogs.

Another point though, I didn't notice the classical training virtue from mysteries (?). I hope I've overlooked it...

If licensing permits, it would be cool to have a few characters generated with this software available on the atlas site. It would be great to allow stroyguides to download these "NPCs" and then progress them through the years at their own pace and according to their own saga.

It's nice to see character sheets online, but if we could have the meta-creator templates too, what a bonus.

I'm sure that the Alter Ego guys would be cool with that. In fact, I was thinking of doing that for the PDF Bats of Mercille -- have a ZIP file on the Atlas site, free download, with all the pregen characters for Metacreator.

In fact, if someone volunteered to work up files for the pregens from other books (like Return of the Stormrider and Promises, Promises), we'd be delighted to put them on the website.

I'm really glad to see the positive response to this software. I know when I was using it, I kept going, "Dang! This is SO COOL!"

We're also trying to arrange for CD-ROMs of the software to be available by mail order from Warehouse 23.

We would not have managed the 150 years without such a tool.

Yours

Berengar

We use Ordo Nobilis Arms and Armour rules and I was wondering whether anyone here knew how to switch from vanilla Ars to Ordo rules. This makes a difference with the abilities list and combat totals.

Aside from that, great. I've even loaded up the books from the giant Ars index as a data sheet, so studying from famous volumes is dead easy.

Ii'' assume you know about loading the supplied Data Sheets. However doing this will not alter the way the macros work behind the scenes, only the data that you feed them.

Now we use a modified Nobilis set of rules for combat and have modified Metacreator to cope with this.

Altering the macros in the script and ini files is not easy, unless you have a programing background. Depending on what aspects you are adopting, you may have to alter the script files and the print ini files. Thats ArsMagica.scp, ArsMagicaPrint.ini and ArsMagica.ini (from memory). The Print ini is used to initialise the Print template (which you may not have to change). Its the formula for the macros that you need to change.

We have altered the combat matrix, and are in the process of debugging the Encumberance rules to work with Nobilis.

One thing that is easy to do is the adding of the armor types from Nobilis into a separate Data sheet and load it with the character sheet.

One thing I would love to see is a tool to allow you to map the characters relationships (that would kill a lot of our paperwork).

Also I have found that the Neophyte generation was a little too specific in its Vitues vs Flaws etc for the initiation points. But again this can to altered to suit your tastes.

Overall, fantastic product. has saved our Saga so much time in just paperwork tracking all the magi.

Jere

Also, I've not found the other Mysteries virtues, how do I access them? Do I make them up?

~Alex

What you are looking for is under Hermetic Virtues > Classic Training,

If this is not what you are after. You will need to access the Macro Data Sheets (mds) files in the Metacreator folder.

If you are missing virtues, first off backup you files into a separate folder (not below the current one), then go and read the pdf mannuals on data sheets. Open the mds for mysteries in Metacreator and insert the vitues you need.

The ones I have missing are
i)Affinties for: Circles, Colour, Sound, Shapeshifting, Healing Magic,Healing, Blood
ii) some of the side effects (flaws) for Thaumaturgy (slow claster).

I suspect there are more. We are giving this product a very good work out. Its good points are shinning. But we have found a few problems, like

1)Various things are missing (virtues, mystery requisites - usually the fine detail in the text)
2) no real simiple allowance for induction of magi into a mystery later in life.
3) No way to assign (easily) Magic Might to a Magi via Elixir or Hermetic Theurgy
4)the random generator (which we are considering rewriting)
5)the Encumberance rules. Go and select a Wagon in equipment, suddenly you are wearing the horse and cart, load = 65 (very funny).
6)No allowance for Noblis Enc armor and combat rules (did michael get a look at this product)
7)Hedge magic is handled very poorly. Mind you I think a separate script modules is needed for this one.
8)easy way (okay you can use the sub lists) to flag spells as non standard (like Fae, Oneiromantic etc)

We will find more "features" like this. Most of these are mot big problems, and can be easily overcome. For a Ars newbie they maybe a problem however.

I will point out that this product would still be on my "must have" list for Ars. Like all softare, I never find a product that is 100% perfect

Gary

And we have been successful! Warehouse 23 will carry both Ars Magica related Metacreator products (as well as several others). The first batch should arrive right around January 24, but we're taking preorders now for folks who want a copy to ship as soon as it shows up.

http://www.warehouse23.com/search.cgi?pline=Metacreator

Peggy Kvam
Alter Ego Software, Inc.

I was trying to generate a Criamon complete with enchanted Imprints. The best I could manage was to add the Imprint as a device and list the appropriate form and effects. They do have slightly different modifiers to normal enchanted devices. Do you have any thoughts on how this could be achieved?

That is, assuming that I haven't simply ignored the big button that says "Criamon Imprints This Way".

Mark

Winged Lion

I do have a way, but I'm still getting the bugs out of it. Will let you know when I have it working 100%

Gary

You can customize your points using the Data/Configuration table, so in your case just add the missing 10 that way if you can't figure out what happened.

Enjoy!

Peggy

But I have just worked out a nice way to put them in. Now you will need to alter the ArsMagica.cds file and a script file ArsMagicaAdvance.scp

***** If you are not comfortable doing this then read no further. *****

1) backup your files.

2) open the ArsMagica.cds
under devices add

Body (Imprint)
BAse Form: Body
Material: Body
Base Points: 10 + (size * 2)
Size Multiper : tiny (yeap thats a fudge to make it work)

3) Add the Form and Effect bonuses from the WGRE (page 95 I think)
4) save and reload
5) open the script ArsMagicaAdvance.scp
do a search for the word "gold" (ctrl-f)

this locates a line of code:

array materials[10] = "1: Cloth, Glass", "2: Wood, Leather", "3: Bone, Soft Stone","4: Hard Stone", "5: Base Metal", "6: Silver", "10: Gold","12: Semi-precious Gem", "15: Precious Gem", "20: Priceless Gem";

under this line insert

n = addElement(materials, format("%d: Body", 10 + ($*size * 2)));

Now save this script

6) place an Item (device) Body in the equipment section
7) now enchant this object as normal.

Okay its not perfect, But its a nice quick workaround.

Note to the developers - this array should have been in a mds list along with the range, duration and target lists for the spells as this are bound to change and be added to.

Gary

I did most of that up to "n = addElement(materials, format("%d: Body", 10 + ($*size * 2)));" including the form and effects. I have a kind of supplementary sheet that I use for adding new things, so I added it there (after adding a new "Form and Effect" folder).

Thanks for the tip on the size thing. That was the bit I was missing. Well, that and the effect level modifiers. But altering those probably goes beyond the boundaries of altering scripts and data sheets so I reckon I can live with it.

I'll try out your suggestion tonight.

Thanks again,

Mark

I've got the Ars metacreator, but am having trouble adding new virtues that do funky things. The best I've been able to do is add a new virtue/flaw with a name and a cost.

Since I have no experience with programming or anything like that, I'm finding things hard going.

I want to know how to make a new virtue that grants Magic might, that grants abilities and powers, and alters aging.

Is this beyond the metacreator's abilities, or does it require someone with programming skills?

Thanks,
~Alex

Most Virtues of this type in canon provide a new skill/power/knowledge. This type of thing is possible just follow the examples of existing virtues of this type. All this can be added via the mds tables. These aren't that horrible, they like a spreadsheet (a bit).

Changing abilities and age will require a far slab of programing on the character sheet and main scripts to present the modified value to you on the screen (beyond the base value). Not impossible if you don't mind working with the scripts.

I maybe wrong but Metacreator doesn't allow for Magic Might as a variable for a Character. This would have to programmed in as a new Character sheet Variable. Now this isn't impossible. I have to do the Magic Might points one day for Theury anyway (it was left out)

Send me (off Forum) what you are trying to do.