Ars Magica Review

This Ars Magica review is part of my “Best Tabletop RPGs of All Time” article. If you want to check out more TTRPGs and see how other top-tier tabletop RPGs are ranked, visit that page.

My Review – 57 / 100

Ok, I’ll be honest. I wasn’t super thrilled with my first impressions of Ars Magica, so that probably set me up to give the game a lower review. Just remember reading through this review that Ars Magica still made it to my top list of TTRPGs. Even though its score is not impressive, the ratings I gave it are in comparison to the best tabletop RPGs of all time. So, even with a lower score, I still think Ars Magica is a great game.

Back to my overall impressions though: there really wasn’t anything in my initial read-through of the rulebook that grabbed me. The experience was also a little arduous from the immense amount of reading required to grasp the game’s core concepts, which was not a good sign. Normally, for reference, the read-through of any RPG rulebook is a pretty fun experience for me as I’m a major tabletop RPG nerd.

Ars Magica has a very long rulebook, with a lot of very intense details about what I would consider to be fairly non-important elements. As with any game, if you ignore all the rules you don’t like, you can still have a lot of fun with Ars Magica.

Why do people play Ars Magica? It may just be the most complete wizard’s roleplaying game experience in existence.

Uniqueness of Ars Magica: (3/10)

In Ars Magica, you often have the chance to play (or at least create) multiple characters, who are all spell-casters of some nature. Everything about this aspect of Ars Magica, I really like. To be honest, I’m surprised more TTRPGs don’t go for this approach. In video game RPGs, for example, it’s uncommon to have only one character. Most of the time, you have your own entire party of characters that you control, with perhaps one character – or only one character at a time – who takes the lead role.

My assumption is that the practicality of tracking Exp on multiple characters, tracking items, remembering spells and abilities… all the stuff that RPGs entail, is the real reason most tabletop RPG games don’t offer multiple characters as part of the normal gameplay experience. Which, of course, you run into playing Ars Magica, as well. But to me, it’s not that encumbering.

Other than that, the most unique part of Ars Magica is the depth of the game’s magic system. There are a massive number of spells in the game, and much of the game’s rulebook is dedicated to spell details. As I’ll discuss a little more in following sections, however, the magic system – to me – is encumbering.

Overall, I give Ars Magic a pretty low score on uniqueness because though I really like aspects of the game’s system (multiple characters, roleplaying a wizard, in-depth), there really aren’t too many unique parts of the game, when compared to other tabletop RPGs. I don’t get the feeling that Ars Magica is substantially groundbreaking for the tabletop gaming genre.

Ease of Learning Ars Magica: (4/10)

Ok, so Ars Magica – straight up – is not that easy of a game to learn. There are character templates at the beginning of the rulebook. If you’re going to play Ars Magica for the first time, you should stick with a template for your character.

To really learn the game enough to build your own character and play successfully, you need to read close to the full 237 page rulebook. There are lots of complexities in Ars Magica. And while I like games with depth, I wouldn’t say that Ars Magica is very new person friendly.

To successfully do things like cast spells (very important to the game), for example, you need to read something like 30-40 pages to really understand how spell-casting works. Each player needs to read and understand those 30-40 pages too, not just the game master. Those 30-40 pages are also just the introduction to magic, and are not the spells themselves.

Ars Magica Presentation: (5/10)

When compared to games like Dungeons and Dragons, the overall layout of chapters in Ars Magica is a little odd. For example, the rulebook starts out with an introduction to the game, followed by dice and how they’re rolled, an introduction to the game’s lore, then into a glossary.

When getting into character creation, the “hermetic house summary” (an aspect of character building) comes after an introductions into stats for each hermetic. In my mind, I was thinking, “how can I choose a hermetic until I understand what the hermetic is about? And if that’s the case, why would I need to see hermetic stats, first?” Hermetics made way more sense about 20 pages in, when I finally found an overview. Basically, the game would have been easier to understand if that order was reversed.

One thing I do really like in the rulebook, however, is how starts of chapters and major sections have a spellbook-like aesthetic. Honestly, the fonts and feel of reading a wizard’s tome make up for a lot in Ars Magica when it comes to the game’s overall presentation.

Ars Magica Lore: (8/10)

Ars Magica is about “the order of Hermes, mages, and religion.” The lore is pretty in-depth, and cool. There’s certainly a lot to work if you want to play an entire RPG campaign.

Of every aspect of Ars Magica, the game’s lore is by far the best part. I would enjoy reading through the entire rulebook at a leisurely pace, almost as if it were part novel of some sort. It’d be fun to learn about each hermetic house, spell, and path of wizardry.

My honest thought when reviewing Ars Magica through virtually every step of the process was that I wished it was a campaign setting for DnD, rather than being its own game system. I think as a campaign setting for DnD, I would absolutely love Ars Magica. In fact, I’d probably play in a Ars Magica DnD setting quite a bit. I just think that the Ars Magica game, on the whole, is not nearly on the same level as games like DnD.

Combat in Ars Magica: (3/10)

The Ars Magica rulebook states that combat isn’t a big part of playing the game, which is fine. The rules for combat seem to reflect that idea, as well. When it comes down to it, combat in Ars Magica is basically just a hit chance, with damage-minus-defense-kind-of-game.

Ars Magica is all about magic. So, going into the game, I was sort of expecting some hardcore wizard duels like when Albus Dumbledore fought Voldemort in the the 5th Harry Potter book. Sadly, that wasn’t to be. In fact, I think it’s pretty much impossible to emulate a battle like that, in Ars Magica.

When you get down to it though, there’s nothing wrong with combat in Ars Magica. It just isn’t an important part of the game, and so doesn’t provide anything particularly special. It didn’t meet my expectations for what combat in a wizard roleplaying game might be.

Game “Flow”: (5/10)

Let me preface this section by again mentioning that Ars Magica – on the whole – is a great game. It also has a small but dedicated group of hardcore gamers. I will say though that you would have to be among the most hardcore tabletop roleplay gamers to give Ars Magica a shot for a full campaign.

The game is like living a life as an actual wizard. Cool in some ways, tedious in many others. The amount of depth provided by Ars Magica into magic and what it means to “be a wizard” is staggering. I think of Ars Magica as being on the same level of detail as Zweihander. In fact, you might say that Ars Magica is Zweihander in this regard, but for wizards.

This game intimidates me, and I’m a pretty hardcore tabletop roleplayer, myself. There are rules and situations in Ars Magica to play out virtually every aspect of magic you could possibly imagine. There are apprentices, laboratories, magical experimentation, familiars, enchantments, and so much more.

For anexample of the depth and complexity of Ars Magic, consider this excerpt from the “Creo Aquam Spells” a Level 5 spell called:

“Footsteps of Slipper Oil”

(*actual text taken from the game. Anything in [these symbols] are my sarcastic additions).

“R: Touch, D: Diam, T: Ind

From each of the next ten footsteps the caster of this spell takes, nonflammable grease spreads out, leaving a slick area 10 paces wide. Dexterity stress rolls are required to remain upright whenever a character on the oil does something more than challenging walking.

A roll of 6+ is needed for the average maneuver, with rolls of up to 15+ needed to (for example) make a right turn at full speed on a smooth, greased surface. The duration is the length of time that the oil lasts [umm… duh?].

This spell was invented by a rather good-natured magus, and the gestures associated with the most common variations of the spell are as comical as the effects themselves. You can stand first on one leg, and then the other, vigorously rubbing the bottom of each upturned foot, as if spreading on a salve. (Base 3, +1 Touch, +1 Diam)”

{Not all spells are just like this, but many are. It’s a lot of text for a spell that makes people slip and fall. Damn dude. Too much for me.

Artwork: (3/10)

There’s not a lot of art in the Ars Magica rulebook. Not really a consistent theme. It’s also simply not the best artwork I’ve ever seen.

What I will say though is that some of the artwork has a very old, medieval sort of feel to it. Like something you would see reading through an ornate religious text from that time period, which I really like.

Ease of Purchase: (10/10)

Ars Magica can be purchased on the Atlas Games site, and on Amazon. At both locations, the game is very easy to find and purchase. You would be surprised how many tabletop RPGs, even among the really great ones, are not as easy to purchase as Ars Magica.

Price & How Many Books Do You Need to Play: (10/10)

You just need one book to play Ars Magica. The price is only $35 for the hardcover rulebook, which is incredible value (hard cover books often cost publishers almost $35 to print a single full-color book).

Fame & Availability of Supplemental Material: (6/10)

There is lots of supplemental material for Ars Magica of all kinds. You can find supplemental books on lore, and that expand on core mechanics of the game.

In 1996, Ars Magica was ranked by Arcane Magazine (now out of print) as the 19th most popular tabletop roleplaying game of all time. I think Ars Magica was very popular at one time. Nowadays though, I don’t think there are many people playing it. I’d still say that it’s probably better than most – like nearly all – tabletop RPGs out there. It’s just not as well-known.

If I had to summarize why I think Ars Magica is so complex for today’s standards, it would be that back in the early days of tabletop gaming, gamers liked very complex games. It gave them something to dig into even when they weren’t gaming with friends, almost like it doubled as a sort of novel in the in-between.

It also provided gamers with specialized information they could glean, then bring to the group and use during a gaming session, like their own secret knowledge or power. These were the days before the internet after all, when it wasn’t super easy to get any sort of information you wanted, at any time.

It was part of the mystique of those early days to play games that were highly elaborate and complex. And for that – what Ars Magica was to that generation – I love the game. I also love the mystique about it and the immense immersion into what it’s like being a wizard.

I just don’t think that today’s tabletop crowd games for quite the same reasons.

Ars Magica is Produced By:

Atlas Games

Play Sparks of Eternity: Emanation Online

By Jacob Tegtman • October 23, 2026

Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzrUgzvlYE0 Transcription Welcome back to Eternity TT RPG YouTube channel, where I talk about different happenings in the tabletop role-playing universe from D&D to the game that my husband and I have been creating. Um, if you follow the channel, you know that we did come out with a card game combat tabletop role-playing game, and it's awesome. I'm super happy with it. I think we all are. Um, but as great as the physical game is, right, we wanted to expand. So we have it online now. And in this video, I'm just gonna walk you through how to get there, um, what you see, and a quick rundown of how to play. Um, so please, uh, take the time to check out the game and we'll jump right in. So to get to the website, um, that holds the online version of [00:01:00] Emanation, you're gonna go to play.sparksofeternity.com and from there it is gonna open up with a screen asking for your email and if there's any name that you want, like, the game to call you, um, your username, and that's it. You don't need a password. You don't need a credit card. You don't need anything. It is just good to go. And then this is the screen that you get. Um, I am just gonna go ahead and run you through everything that you see, and I may start a game as well. So everybody's, um, system is gonna open up with the assassin, um, the first character alphabetically. And you'll notice at the top that you're gonna have a few different other classes: berserker, druid, judge, oracle, and summoner. Um, at this point in time, players, you and I can only play the assassin, berserker, druid, and summoner. We are currently having just the computers play as the judge and oracle. Um, at some point, we are [00:02:00] going to open those up. We're just not there yet. So on this screen, it gives you a rundown of, like, who the assassin is, um, and how many life sparks they start with, your hit points, if they're more of a tactic player, a magic player, or a mix, um, how many of the cards take a D20 roll for that tabletop role-playing feel. And not to mention you have the amazing art for it, um, that tries to depict more of what the class is Um, other thing that you're gonna end up seeing is that it tells you, like, the cards that you get as you go. So you're always gonna start with your attack, defend, no action. And then for assassin specifically, you do have lethality. But then you can scroll over and you can see all of the abilities for each class so you kind of know what you're getting into before you play, which is really neat if you ask me to get a better feel for it before [00:03:00] you even jump into a game. Um, as far as jumping into a game, there's two different ways to do it right now. You can, um, play against computers or you can share the website with a friend, start a new room, and it's gonna give you a code like this. So you would send that code off to your friend, they would input the code and then they would choose, like, their character and off you go. Um, whatever character you have up here selected is the character you're gonna end up playing. Um, for the sake of just showing you guys, I am gonna do the assassin. Um, and then let's say you don't have any friends to play with, which, you know, I don't always have friends, but that's okay. You can add computer players. So I'm gonna add like three players and then I can pick what they are. So I'm okay with the judge, oracle and [00:04:00] berserker. That all sounds good. And then this last spot here is gonna be how long you want everyone to have to choose their ability or like their action for each turn. Um, when you're just getting started and learning the game, I do recommend more towards like the two or three minutes. Of course, if you don't take that long, the game will just continue anyway. Like if everybody's selected it'll just move on. But if you need that time to read and understand, then please take more time. Um, for, you know, my sake and knowing the game, I'm gonna go with 60 seconds and then we just start the match with four players So now we're on turn one. I do have a countdown timer up in this corner telling me how much time I have left. It does do a turn counter for me. This turn will always be turn zero because you are like a level zero character in the world. You're level zero with combat, you have no actions, you're not a fully fledged whatever class you [00:05:00] are, right? So this turn I am gonna go with defend. It shows me a little bit better and I hit play it. So now everybody's thing is gonna show and they're just gonna run through everything that happens. I am not clicking anything right now, it's just doing its thing. So they all attacked each other. I'm defending. It gives me a quick rundown down here of what happens, what abilities they're gaining, and then it tells you like what happened with health as well, which I think is really cool. Now I am level one. I now have access to assassinate and it also shows me what my other opponents are gaining down below. And now I can choose stuff to play. I'm gonna go ahead and do the assassinate one, which includes rolling a D20. We're gonna play it And now healing will always take priority. So that is what ha- is happening there. And then they decided to attack. They have a passive going on, so that [00:06:00] just got rolled. And now I'm gonna roll to assassinate. I didn't hit, so I won't select a target And now they're just finishing up anything that needs to resolve and onto the next round. So as you can see, it runs really quickly, um, which is just... I think it's great, you know? I think getting to have a feel for the game and see what's going on is just really neat. Um, other thing to note as you get further in the game, you're gonna notice, like, this person now has dual wield. If I scroll over that, I see what it is. It is a passive for them. Um, and that means that it gets rolled every turn and, um, we just gotta see if they hit every turn unless somebody dispels it. Um, or in this case, this one is immune to greater dispel. You can see that at the very bottom. You'll also notice that these little cards at the top right appeared, meaning that my opponents have already picked their cards and they're waiting on me. [00:07:00] Um, I think we're just gonna try to assassinate again 'cause, you know, I'm an assassin. I think that's great. So healing takes place first again. Healing takes place first and now they're doing the rest of their actions. They're rolling their passives And then I'll try to assassinate. Man, the rolls are bad. Um, and then everything else resolves. It goes over what people are gaining, and we go on to the next round. So this goes on for 10 rounds as far as like gaining different abilities, but the game ends at round 20. Um, by round 20, you're looking for, you know, um, being the last man standing or having the most life sparks at the end of the whole game. So that is a quick rundown on how the online game works. I think it's really neat that we do [00:08:00] have the, you know, physical version of it, and now we have an online version. It's crazy to see how quick it's all coming together. Um, I'll drop the link to this down below, so hopefully you guys, uh, decide to check it out. Let us know any questions, comments, concerns. Like and subscribe, and we will catch y'all next time. Thank you

5 D&D Tabletop RPG Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes

October 19, 2026

Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_l3hijcNcI Transcription [00:00:00] Welcome back to Eternity TTRPG YouTube channel, where I go over different things in the tabletop role-playing universe from the game that my husband and I cr- are creating, to D&D, to goodness knows what, right? Um, this go around, I am going to talk about common mistakes you find from new players or longtime players when you're playing D&D. Now, keep in mind, I have only played D&D once or twice. Um, I personally was not a fan of the system. However, these are just common mistakes you can find in just about any tabletop role-playing game when you're just getting started. So I thought they were kind of relevant. Um, so we're just gonna hop right in, and I may rapid-fire these. So common mistake number one is thinking that a nat 20 succeeds at absolutely everything. So this one I find really funny, actually, because you would [00:01:00] think that with the best dice roll, you could do anything, right? Um, turns out you can't. So as far as combat goes, um, a nat 20, it'll always automatically hit. You'll always do damage. There's no question about that when it comes to combat. However, when you're starting to look at, um, ability checks, and you're in these different, um, situations that don't involve combat, a nat 20 does not mean much. So it comes down to your DM and what your DM decides. For example, let's say that you are trying to persuade a king to hand over his whole kingdom, right? And you roll a nat 20, and you're thinking, "Yes, I did it. I have a kingdom now." And DM's like, "Uh, no, you don't." The king may be more likely to put you in a place of power in the kingdom, but he's not gonna hand over everything. [00:02:00] Um , so that just ... It all comes down to the DM regardless of what you're rolling. Um, so that is something to keep in mind, and don't get overexcited about your, uh, rolls. Never get excited about them, honestly, unless it's combat, so keep that in mind. Eternity TTRPG has released a card game battler which emulates combat from the tabletop role-playing genre. Sparks of Eternity Emanation is fast-paced, easy to learn, and features six classes from your favorite TTRPGs. Each class deck comes with its own set of unique abilities, which everyone plays at the same time, so there's never any downtime at your table. Each turn, everyone's characters levels up, giving players access to even more options. If you're interested in taking a look, we have our sales page live now, packed with details Other mistake that I find very interesting that happens a lot is forgetting that [00:03:00] your proficiency in different skills matters. Um, so when I go to build a character, I just build something that's fun and cool, and I don't really care about the stats, and that's probably something that I personally need to change. But I imagine that if I'm like that, I may not be the only one. Um, so whenever you're rolling in D&D combat or ability checks, you do add your proficiency bonuses, right? So it's almost never just the dice roll. Um , so you really should be paying attention to your proficiency, and if you wanna be someone that is really sneaky, for example, then you need to look at your proficiency in stealth because you can't be sneaky without a high proficiency in stealth. So definitely something to think about when you're building a character. Um, another Mistake that's pretty common is trying to maintain two concentration spells. Um, so [00:04:00] the misconception is that you can have one already running and you can cast another and you can maintain both. Um, actual rule in D&D is you can only concentrate one effect at a time. Um, that is very odd to me just because as a normal human being, we are able to multitask. I mean, maybe not well, but we can. Um, so that is one thing that I personally do like about the tabletop role-playing game that my husband and I are creating is that you can have multiple things that you're concentrating, um, as long as you have the proficiency to do so. But anyway, D&D doesn't do that, so don't do it. Um, let's see. Um, let's see. Um, other thing that comes up pretty often is that thinking your turn when you go to do any kind of combat is just for attacking. So this ... We talk about [00:05:00] combat, right? And all you think of is attacking your opponent, but it's really outdoing your opponent, outthinking them, and you can do other things like dodging, dashing, disengaging, hiding, searching, um, and helping others in your party, right? You don't just have to attack the boss. You can do more. So something to think about, right? Um, okay. This is a mistake that I find in every tabletop role-playing game, and maybe it's not even a mistake. Maybe it's just how people are. But I struggled with this extremely. I still struggle with it, is that to play a role-playing game, you think you have to be a professional, like a professional actor. Uh, truth is, you don't. You really don't. You can just use your normal voice. You can, like, have your normal personality. You can just put you on the paper. And that is what I did for multiple campaigns when I first started doing this kind of stuff [00:06:00] with any tabletop role-playing game. So keep that in mind. You don't need to be anything special. You don't even need to know anything. You don't have to know a single thing about the tabletop role-playing universe. Just write stuff down. Just write it down. Try your best. Call it good. You don't have to be perfect. Okay. So with all of that, like I said, rapid fire things, misconceptions, mistakes that we see in D&D and other tabletop role-playing universes. What is something that you thought before you started playing or even as you're playing or even that you see other people do that is a misconception or mistake when in your tabletop role-playing universes? Drop a comment below. Let me know. Also, let us know how we're doing. Like, comment, subscribe, and keep it going.

Our First Convention With a TTRPG Product! Sparks of Eternity

October 1, 2026

Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtIN1OHjTZQ Transcription [00:00:00] Welcome back to Eternity TTRPG channel, um, where we talk about different happenings in the TTRPG universe as well as what's going on with our game, um, with the Sparks of Eternity universe. So I'm gonna try and keep this one short, sweet, to the point 'cause I have a lot of stuff I gotta get done. Um, so this weekend we are gonna be attending our first convention where we, like, have the official product to sell. Um, we have done conventions in the past. Um, I've been a part of two of those conventions. I know my husband has done a few more than that. And at those conventions, it was all about, like, just trying to keep the tabletop role-playing universe alive and explain what, um, we're trying to bring to the table with it, um, explain more about the world of Eternity and all that kind of stuff. Um, this go around, as I said, it's gonna be the first time [00:01:00] that we actually have a product. Um, and I know I've talked about it before. If you're new here, that's gonna be Sparks of Eternity Emanation, and it is a... We're still figuring out the wording of this, so if you've played it and have a better idea, let me know. But it is a tabletop role-playing combat party card game. Okay? So go ahead and, you know, think of your tabletop role-playing. You're gonna have dice rolls, you're gonna have different classes, and you know your classic stuff like the druid is a shapeshifter, assassin is, you know, assassinating and that kind of stuff, right? Well, now you take that, you put all their abilities into a deck and you start at level zero, you work your way up to level 10 and you just try to take out your opponents or survive the longest. You're... I mean, good luck to you either way, right? Um, [00:02:00] so that is what we're gonna be showing off at the convention this weekend. And with this convention there has been a lot of planning and it's just been like a labor of love trying to get everything ready for it, honestly. Because we have to travel for the weekend, you know, stay in the hotel, pack the car, make sure the dog's taken care of, all that kind of stuff, right? Um, but then we also have to think of the booth itself and, well, what do we want the table to look like? Do we need a tablecloth? What should the tablecloth look like? What about a background banner? And all this different stuff, right? And we didn't know we would be doing this convention until about two months ago. So it's been about a two-month scramble getting everything ready for it, all for this three-day weekend. And over this three-day weekend, we have eight hours on Friday, 12 hours on Saturday, and another six hours on Sunday. So [00:03:00] that's 26 hours over the weekend that we're gonna be vending, um, and hoping to do our best with it, right? Um, so one thing that I do wanna show you guys that I am very excited about is we went ahead and worked with an artist. Um, it is our new artist for, um, the Sparks of Eternity franchise, and he created our banner artwork, which I really-- I am so excited with what he created, um, for us to show off what the world of Eternity really is, right? Um, so here it is. And with this, you know, banner, we're trying to show, like, basically you as the player reaching out for all these different ideas, all these different sparks, while also giving itself to the lore of Eternity where you have The Stag and, um, Saint Ranroth on the other side, um, and just their storyline. Now, of course, you guys [00:04:00] don't know all the lore and everything behind all of this. We do and we cannot wait to reveal it all in due time, you know? 'Cause we have these plans that we're setting in motion, and this convention is just another part of that plan. So, as I said, I have a lot of stuff to get done leading up to this convention for the weekend, so we're gonna post this, you know, do all the work with that, and then continue getting ready. Um, we will be at the Pittsburgh Gaming Expo this weekend, and that is what we'll be doing. So if you happen to watch the channel and see us there, say hi. Um, if not, definitely keep following along with our journey and make sure you check out our website for the game that we're selling. Um, wish us the best of luck, and as always, like, comment, subscribe. Let us know how we're doing. Let us know what you wanna hear. Thanks, y'all.