But virtually any hedge mage can make amulet etc against magic. Parma is one of the Orders secrets to be kept from foreign magi.

Why?

Basically, the authors and developers fucked up. The Parma is supposed to be Unique.

It isn't unfortunately, but it is the most effective, granting ability x5 + Form in protection. Furthermore, it is effective against everything, whereas most Hedge Magic has a limitation, either on the ability level or the nature of the magic ward.

~Alex
pax

The story of the creation of the Order revolves around the largest magical traditions in central Europe at the time. Of the original founders only Diedne and Bjornaer were non-latin and Bjornaer was an individual. We can therefore conclude that the majority of central/western European wizards were Mercurian, followed some way behind by Druidic.

We are told that Mercurian magi were highly specialised, each individual/lineage having only adapted fragments of the old Roman period spells. The old Roman lore needed to be developed for casting by individuals or small groups and this knowledge was jealously guarded.

For Mercurians your power depended on how many of these adapted spells you possessed. Imagine being one-spell-wonder? After perfecting it your only way forward would be to seek out other Mercurian lineages and learn their spell(s). Yet between Mercurians there was great paranoia.

Being highly specialised it follows that only ward specialists would have ward magic. Perhaps all the Mercurian wards were circles in the ground type effects? In which case, they would be generally ineffective against a wizard attack.

Mercurians would have little interest in other traditions as their magic was alien; they could not simply steal their grimoires. The rivilary was therefore largely confined within the Mercurian tradition.

So re-reading the story we have the majority of European wizards with a strong motive to attack each other, yet with little or no protection. The invention of Parma was therefore a huge deal to them. It was *offered* by its creator, it gave Mercurians security and the chance to learn from others in a civil manner. Then Bonisagus invents Universal Magic Theory, which was even more amazing.

This says absolutely nothing about non-mercurian traditions. The story is not undermined at all by other traditions having magic resistance (weak or strong). Even so Parma significantly outclasses virtually all other types; with the exception of gruagachan/trollsynir, which are roughly equal.

The only issue is the ArM4 mechanics that makes magic resistance too easily defeated in general.

Regards

- David W

I hadn't considered it from the Roman Tradition point of view. Gives me some ideas for Roman Traditions existing in their old form outside of the Order.

Also it could be that Parma is a ritual that can be fairly easily taught that doen't require the full Hermetic baggage. Thus it can be added to any tradition virtually that lacks a magical defense .. ie Bjornaer probably didn't have one but Diedne probably did. Other Hedge magics may be considered needing a more comprehensive change in approach to benefit from the magical defence aspect. Ie for a Bjornaer to create a magic protection talisman a lot more alien skills are required eg crafting, philosophy to be learnt.

Just because a mage can create a more powerful magic protection item than his parma is just another benefit of Hermetic flexibility. It doesn't downgrade parma but a Verditius mage may prefer a device rather than improving their parma skill.

David Chart (the current ArM line editor) wrote an article on 'The Magic of the Founders' in Hermes Portal 5. You can get it in PDF format from:

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/styren/hermesportal/hermes1.htm

It's quite good, although I think the mechanics could be improved/ fleshed out. Unfortunitely (imo) he also states that no magic resistance existed before Parma; a position I don't support.

>>>Also it could be that Parma is a ritual that can be fairly easily taught that doen't require the full Hermetic baggage.<<<

This is fairly explicitly stated. Parma was created before Universal Magic Theory (Hermetic Magic). Philosophy or learning doesn't appear to matter to Parma.

>>>Just because a mage can create a more powerful magic protection item than his parma is just another benefit of Hermetic flexibility. It doesn't downgrade parma but a Verditius mage may prefer a device rather than improving their parma skill.<<<

I agree. I can't see how hedge wizards getting MRs of 20 break the setting either. There may be a case for hedge wizard MR to be rarer, weaker, difficult, or more specific in future. Some hedgies, like Cunning Folk, get MR via access to the +4 Magic Resistance virtue. If this were scraped they would lose it.

As long as it is well balanced, I think there is no reason to preclude hedge wizards having any access to MR. For instance, the Galdramen tradition can ward themselves against magic. However, this means either a D:Conc effect or a regular vis cost to pay the spirit providing the protection. They can also bind the spirit into a item, but only one of half the Might they can conjure.

A Galdraman at the height of his power might be able to conjure a spirit to give him +50 MR, requiring between 10 and 20 pawns per year to maintain. Or he could bind a spirit into an item to give +25 MR. Imo the former is unlikely to be standard practice and the latter should cause no Hermetic to lose sleep.

Similarly the gruagachan/trollsynir are incapable of learning Hermetic magic or even Parma. In LoFaL their magic is effectively transforming them into magical beasts. Thus their magic resistance can be attributed to the nascent Might score. This is a wholely different form of MR and shouldn't be directly compared with Parma.

Don't misunderstand me, Parma should be in the Premier League of MR. This league should not be large, but Parma should not be on its own either. There is also plenty of scope to populate lower divisions.

Regards

- David W