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The legendary roleplaying game of myth and magic will soon itself be transmuted, as Ars Magica’s game system and setting will be released under an open license. The crowdfunding campaign supporting the release starts Oct 15 at 11am Central US time, on BackerKit.com.

Atlas Games ^[1], the stewards of the award-winning tabletop roleplaying game Ars Magica, announced earlier this year the upcoming launch of Ars Magica Definitive Edition ^[2]. This deluxe version of the 5th Edition marks an epic return for the game, not only with an expanded rulebook weighing in at over 600 full-color pages, but also by embracing an open license for third-party creators.

Ars Magica Definitive Edition will empower players and creators like never before. The text of the core rulebook will be released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license as an early stretch goal. This open license will allow players to freely share, adapt, and build upon both the core mechanics and the Mythic Europe setting for the game, and sell their creations. An early draft of the Ars Magica Open License rules ^[3] are available online.

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All of Ars Magica’s 5th Edition ^[5] sourcebooks may also be released during the campaign, depending on backer support. Stretch goals for licensing the existing 40+ titles in this edition, which flesh out every facet of Mythic Europe, are scheduled to appear later in the campaign.

John Nephew started Atlas Games in 1990 to produce Ars Magica adventures with a license from Lion Rampant, the game’s original publisher. In 1996, Atlas Games bought the entire game from Wizards of the Coast, and went on to publish the 4th and 5th Editions that included 65 supplements in total. “Ars Magica has never had an open license,” observes John, “yet still the internet is full of fan-created content, which is something we’ve always quietly encouraged. That speaks more than anything to the game’s devoted and creative fan following, and the importance of this license to make our support explicit.”

The Ars Magica crowdfunding campaign launches on BackerKit.com October 15th at 11:00 AM Central US time. ^[6]
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Michelle Nephew is the project’s Co-Producer, as well as co-owner of Atlas Games. “We’ve had the amazing opportunity to publish Ars Magica for over three decades, supported by that devoted fan community,” she agrees. “As the stewards of this incredible piece of roleplaying history, John and I feel it’s time to give back to our fans, and let them take the game in new directions we haven’t had the resources to explore. It’s our way of fostering a vibrant community of creators, and ensuring the game’s longevity for generations to come.”

“I already have a Patreon ^[8] to make material for it, with permission from Atlas to start before the licenses are released,” notes Line Developer David Chart. “Anyone who wants can write for the game, and charge people for what they make. I very much hope that this will be a new beginning, and that the amount of material available to build on will encourage lots of people to do so.”

“Their creativity will determine the game’s legacy,” David continues, “and it will be more than I can imagine.”