Today's the day we get to show you our final design for the Ars Magica dice! Here's the mold, now in the hands of designer-engineer David Ultis, who is giving it final adjustments before sending it to our injection molding pals down in Somerset, Wisconsin. Let us know in the comments if you love the design as much as we do!
The Nigrasaxa covenant for Ars Magica 4th Edition has been NEWLY released by Atlas Games under the open license! It's already been converted to 5th by Mario Streflerand, also under the open license. Find it at https://www.redcap.org/page/Ni...
The call for submissions is open for the second issue of the new Mythic Europe Magazine. Details at https://gamesfromfolktales.com...
Blagdaross Ediciones, the publisher working on a Spanish edition of Ars Magica Definitive Edition, just released the teaser page of the crowdfunding project, which will start on October 1st. More info is at https://www.backerkit.com/call...
In The Missing Baroness adventure, a local noble lady has gone missing while out enjoying falconry and the Covenant is called to find her in a fairie-flavored chase. It's available on DriveThruRPG: https://legacy.drivethrurpg.co... and also translated into French: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/e...
Part II of the Joan Stories (an Ars Magica novel) has been uploaded to the Joan Vault. These five chapters cover the events of summer 1220-spring 1221. Download them here: https://drive.google.com/drive...
Today we're releasing all the various versions of the Mythic Europe map! All the corrections are completed (thanks again for your comments!), and we're moving on to prototyping the cloth maps using the final files. Visit your account in Backerkit.com, and you'll find a zip file with these maps in your Downloads area:
"Interior" long version
"Poster" short version
"Endsheets" with borders and keys removed
"Hicontrast" with textures removed
The maps are all included in both a web version (screen resolution), and a 8.5x11 inch printable version. We usually release maps as 72dpi and 150dpi (since that's the best a home printer can do), but for this release I upped those to 96dpi and 192dpi, since there's so much small text on the map.
PROGRESS ON EVERYTHING ELSE
We're about half way through our "polishing" pass on the Ars Magica Definitive core rulebook. We had hoped get the Storyguide Set to press ahead of that, but along the way we realized that the Storyguide Screen and Reference Guide that it includes would be much more useful with actually accurate page number references included. So that means waiting for the core rulebook layout to be absolutely, positively, completely done.
My co-producer Ben Hartfield is working exclusively on that Ars Magica Definitive layout, full time. I'm also helping with the nitty-gritty of production where I can (like spending today prepping all the Mythic Europe maps). We're continually moving forward, while be extremely detail-oriented. Thank you for your patience while we make Ars Magica Definitive the best it can be!
-Michelle Nephew Ars Magica Definitive Co-Producer Atlas Games Co-Owner
We're close to sending the Storyguide Screen and Reference Guide to press, the Mythic Europe map is getting fine detail adjustments (as well as big and blatant corrections), and the entire Definitive Edition book is being proofread by multiple staffers after integration of all the corrections from our backers. It's a long and precise process, keeping track of literally thousands of small changes. Thank you again to everyone who submitted feedback!
Softcover Print-on-Demand
The last stray source file corrections have been made, and our last round of proof copies were ordered, received, and approved. This means we now have the ENTIRE 5TH EDITION LINE of sourcebooks ready for digital print-on-demand in the US, UK, and possibly even Canada and Australia (though we need to test those production channels). When the Definitive Edition sets are ready to ship, we're now ready to ship the softcovers along with them!
Dice Progress
We've found an American supplier able to manufacture dice, including the full process of injection molding, number coloring, and polishing. Plus they're able to work with recycled material! We eagerly await an estimate from them for producing our recycled Ars Magica dice. If pricing works out, I for one am excited at the prospect of NOT having to hand-color 6,000+ individual dice with ten sides each. This new supplier also creates the possibility of full sets of 100% recycled RPG dice in the future, which is something we'd love to do in our Replay Workshop line.
Prototype Ars Magica Dice, inked and tumbled/polished
Here's a photo of the sample dice the manufacturer provided from our custom Ars Magica dice file, after inking and polishing to give them their rounded edges. You can also see that our ivy design has changed a bit to facilitate manufacturing. Note that these are translucent resin dice -- basically 3D printed -- and not injection molded recycled dice, plus the colors are off. However, they do a good job of demonstrating the effectiveness of the painting/polishing process!
Serenissima Obscura
We're excited about the crowdfunding launch of Serenissima Obscura, from our friends at Vortex Verlag. I've known some of those folks since our Lion Rampant days, before Atlas was even started! The campaign has passed its funding goal and is about halfway through the duration of its campaign. I've mentioned this in past updates, but I'm intrigued by this compelling vision of Renaissance Venice not only for its own sake, but because it will include a guide for using the setting as an expansion of Ars Magica, taking advantage of the open license!
Thank you for your support as we take the time we need to make Ars Magica Definitive Edition the best it can be.
We've gotten through rough layout of the ENTIRE core rulebook, which was a huge milestone, and now we're moving on to the job of polishing it. When I saw your feedback on it, I told David Chart, "I am stunned by the draft layout comments in the survey spreadsheet. They REALLY CHECKED the sheet and DIDN'T duplicate comments that were already made. No D&D fandom would do that. Really, it's amazing." Your excellent comments are making a big job so much easier on our end, so thank you!
At the same time, we're moving on to the accessories layouts. We've releasing backer previews of the rough Storyguide Screen, Memorials Page, and Mythic Europe Map (updated) today. Next up will be the Reference Guide. So check your dashboard in Backerkit.com for those downloads as they're made available!
Salve sodales! We've hit a major milestone, so it's time to share our win!
Early this week we delivered the last chapters of the Ars Magica Definitive Edition rough layout PDF. If you don't have yours yet, be sure to check your downloads page at Backerkit.com. I hope you love it as much as we do!
Now it's polishing time! This is the part where we take what was pretty darned good and make it exceptional. In particular, we need your help finalizing the new Mythic Europe map. You'll find that art at the start of Chapter 14: Mythic Europe. Please let us know if you find any issues, and enter them into our comments form here: https://forms.gle/vKfnRCtsuMDU1H7z5
We need your map comments, especially, and any last comments on the book, by THIS MONDAY APRIL 21. We also need your submissions for the memorials page by then. All of those can be submitted on our comments form.
Thank you for your help!
-Michelle Nephew Ars Magica Definitive Producer Atlas Games Co-Owner
