he settings of many fantasy roleplaying games use medieval European history as a source of inspiration for their canonical setting. Ars Magica takes this apporach a step further: Mythic Europe is a setting that is based firmly on medieval Europe - actually a medieval Europe only slightly changed. First, there is the Order of Hermes, a completely artificial addition, a organization of powerful wizards with covenants all over Europe. And in Mythic Europe things, that medieval people believed in, are real: Faeries haunt the forrests, malevolent spirits spread sickness and disease, demons try to win over human's souls while angels guard over others and so on.

ost modern people have some kind of basic idea of the life in the Middle Ages. Sometimes these ideas are based on history lessons in school, but very often they are based on fictional stories from books, or from Hollywood productions. When compared to the medieval reality - or to what historians know about the medieval reality - there tend to be surprising differences. The admin of this site was quite surprised about the number of misconceptions he found in his own ideas while playing Ars Magica.

umors have it, that you need to have studied medieval history to play Ars Magica - but that is nonsense. A lot of Ars Magica players notice, however, a growing interest in facts about the medieval history, and as a reslut, most of these players know quite a bit about the Middle Ages and medieval life.

bviously we can't collect and present everything known about the middle ages and medieval life. Instead we try to collect articles that help players and storyguide a general idea about the middle ages and specific topics. We try to explain common misconceptions and focus on details that might serve as a source of inspiration for playing the game.