I’ve been promising (or perhaps threatening?) this for a while now but I’ve now published the first ArM5 Mythos material here. There’s a lot of fragments and concepts I’d like to explore that link into other sections but for the moment I’ve started in media res with some mechanics for the Elder Sign (see image).
I’ve deliberately chosen to use cryptic branched line rather than the Derleth influenced pentagram with an eye style symbol.
I’ll be running a poll soon on the Atlas Games Forums to clarify what other elements may be readily adaptable, but will upload some other related material soon.
Given the remarkable response and popularity of the Andalusian Magic articles I posted recently, I’ve decided to add a few more to the menu and also link them in to the The Mythic Levant project pages.
First, Niall Christie’s article “Islamic Magic and 5th Edition” (published with permission) updating the Islamic Parameters from ArM4 Blood & Sand to 5th edition.
The second article is an update to the concept of “the Faerie Problem” experienced by non-European Hermetic magi more familiar with jinn than traditional Celtic, Germanic or Slavic style faeries.
Both article may also be useful for Sagas set in the Mythic Middle East drawing upon the material in The Cradle and the Crescent.
So while digging through my old material I came across a partially completed article on various concepts useful for playing Andalusian Magi.
I’d long lamented that much maligned ArM3 Tribunals of Hermes: Iberia contained a woefully inadequate amount on Granda and in truth basically no material on Islamic Hermetic Magi. I therefore decided to address this but never finished the piece.
Seemed a shame to waste such good ideas and given there appears to be no chance of a revised Iberian Tribunal anytime soon, I may as well dust them off and showcase them here for general use.
I’ve added the following material to the site already, but more will follow:
Some of the ideas and concepts may well be useful for Sagas set in the Mythic Levant or the Mythic Middle East and may provide interesting material for opponents or allies of characters located in the nearby Provencal Tribunal. The original ideas for some of the more developed concepts appeared in my old Sub Rosa article “Dar al-Nujum Covenant”, the complete text of which is now hosted on this site.
So this is the latest (at least currently published) Tribunal Book and I think looking at the Redcaps in it makes for an interesting contrast to the Stonehenge representation of Redcaps I discussed earlier presented in ArM4 Heirs to Merlin.
For a start, there’s a lot more Redcaps – there’s actually 13 in total to be exact (all unGifted). For what seems such a geographically small Tribunal with only 9 large covenants detailed (although possibly many smaller covenants and a fair share of eremites perhaps) that seems like a generous share compared to the five detailed for Stonehenge.
Back in early 2008, long-time Berklist alumni and agitator, Mark D Faulkner (aka “Marko Markoko”) sent me a draft of a piece he’d written in response to the “reinterpretation” of House Flambeau presented in Houses of Hermes: Societates that he wished to submit (in a spirit of protest perhaps) to Sub Rosa, then under the helmsmanship of Alex White.
It was a great piece, a real “diamond in the rough”, and a real showcase for Marko’s passion for all things Flambeau and his unbridled and consuming creativity.
I had the opportunity of commenting on some of the early drafts and the privilege of seeing the piece hammered into its final form, tempered into a striking 10-page piece with some great accompanying art. Marko has since gone on to write for the official line, contributing the almogavars to Grogs, the “City of Brass” adventure in Tales of Power and was the initial creative force behind the Val-Negra chapter of the just released Faith and Flame: the Provençal Tribunal.
I’ve managed to convince / cajole / beg / badger Marko into allowing me to repost the article here to coincide with the release of the latest supplement as the first of a series of supplementary posts to support the official Provençal material.
It’s definitely worth checking out.
Oh, and don’t forget that the remainder of Issue #3 contains articles by later editors Ben MacFarland and Mark Lawford as well as a revised piece on Mythic Zoroastrianism by then editor Alex White that ultimately evolved into the chapter of the same name in the first supplement I worked on, The Cradle and the Crescent…
I’ve been rearranging some of the site structure and editing some of the older pages to keep more in line with the overall theme and style I’ve developed over the last year. This includes checking on blank pages and links to ideas that I intended to create pages for.
I realised some of The Cradle and the Crescent pages were a bit bare, so I’ve filled them in with text and the appropriate links while I dig up some of the older cut-file material. Since one of the original intentions of this site was to supplement that particular work I want to make sure there’s easily accessible Mythic Middle East material.
Excitingly, I’ve also been granted permission by Niall Christie to host his additional ArM4 and ArM5 material for Blood & Sand: the Levant Tribunal, in particular his unofficial web supplement known as “Vestiges in Sand”. I’ll add this slowly to the Blood & Sand – Redux pages over the next few weeks but for now I’ve added his Variant Fifth Edition Sahir article as a counterpoint to the official tCatC version presented by Erik Dahl.
Niall’s ArM5 version of his original sahir is a simple, more traditional summoner build style of sorcerer that concentrates on Goetic style powers of Summoning and Commanding while incorporating the rules from The Mysteries: Revised Edition. Although I like the way Erik presented the Order of Suleiman and the Solomonic Arts, I prefer a more basic sahir style (reflected in the Solomonic Sihr only style of the Ashab al-Halqa or “Followers of the Circle”).
Rereading Niall’s article has made me think about some of the concepts for sahirAstrological Mysteries (essentially Planetary Invocation style magic)and Jinni Mysteries (powers granted by pacts with jinni tribes) that I wanted to develop but ran out of time, word count and experience to develop further. Hopefully I’ll find some of the old drafts an have a chance to polish them up soon.
So this is now readily available for digital download from Warehouse 23!
At $US 15 it’s readily affordable (and then readily accessible importantly), containing a wealth of creatures, characters, plot ideas and fully-fledged adventures.
If you enjoyed the material in The Cradle and the Crescent, “the City of Brass” adventure will hopefully provide not only inspiration but also ready to use example ‘afarit and jinn that can be used as the basis for similar creatures.
The appendix to the article includes a full write-up of a sample Alpine Redcap, Cymena of Rorschach, presented at three stages of her development (immediately post-Gauntlet, 15 years into her career, and at the time of her retirement) similar to the example magi are detailed in Magi of Hermes.
I’ve been promising (or perhaps threatening?) this for a while now but I’ve now published the first ArM5 Mythos material here. There’s a lot of fragments and concepts I’d like to explore that link into other sections but for the moment I’ve started in media res with some mechanics for the Elder Sign (see image).
My Life as a Grog 
