The Rhine Tribunal

A sourcebook to the magic-soaked lands of Mythic Germany for Ars Magica 5th Edition.

Open License Markdown version by YR7 & OriginalMadman, https://github.com/OriginalMadman/Ars-Magica-Open-License

[Completion state: Whole book manually fixed (including official Errata), and reviewed twice.]

Based on the material for Ars Magica, ©1993–2024, licensed by Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games®, under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license 4.0 ("CC-BY-SA 4.0"). Order of Hermes, Tremere, Doissetep, and Grimgroth are trademarks of Paradox Interactive AB and are used with permission.

Mythic Germany is the birthplace of the Order of Hermes. From the sinister faerie heights of the Black Forest, through the prosperous and venerable cities of the Rhineland, to the fog-ridden Harz Mountains, to the lowland plain and Crintera's island retreat on the Baltic coast, the Rhine Tribunal is a diverse landscape of countless magical and faerie forests, interspersed with a patchwork of powerful realms, where prince-bishops vie with dukes and merchant gilds for temporal power. This is the land of the epic Nibelungenlied, the heroic conquests of Charlemagne and Frederick Barbarossa, the miracles of St. Boniface, the splendor of the Imperial Cathedrals, the gifts of minstrels and wood-wives, and the curses of witches and the Wild Hunt.

Guardians of the Forests reveals the many unique traditions of the First Tribunal, its archaic politics and lost glories, its reverence for its founders and its woodlands, the workings of the Great Library of Durenmar, and the secrets of those who pursue obscure wilderness paths in search of the primal power of the Forest. The region of the Rhine Gorge receives a special focus its lost covenants, vis sources, sites of legend, towns, castles, inhabitants, and a mysterious curse are all detailed providing a perfect location to jump-start an Ars Magica™ 5th Edition saga.

AUTHORS: Mark Shirley and Andrew Smith

EDITING AND DEVELOPMENT: David Chart

COVER ILLUSTRATION: Grey Thornberry

INTERIOR ART: Grey Thornberry, Wilhelm Beckmann, K. Dielitz, Alphonse de Neuville, S. Schneider

CARTOGRAPHY: Alexander Bradley, Andrew Smith

ARS MAGICA 5TH EDITION TRADE DRESS: J. Scott Reeves

LAYOUT AND ART COORDINATION: John Nephew

PROOFREADING: Michelle Nephew

PLAYTESTERS: Alexander Bader, Tanja Bader, Stefan Ehret, Alexander Gerber, MaPhi Messner; Donna Giltrap, Malcolm Harbrow, Aaron Hicks, Richard Love; Chris Jensen-Romer, Peter Hiley, Kevin Sides, Luke Price, Lloyd Graney, Ed Woods; David Woods; Andrea C. Cofalik, Ulrich Willmünder; Erik Dahl; Matt Ryan

SPECIAL THANKS: Jerry Corrick and the gang at the Source

About the Authors

MARK SHIRLEY is a zoologist who lives in the Loch Leglean Tribunal yet works in the Stonehenge Tribunal, four miles away. His various alter-egos include a Flambeau specializing in Herbam, a half-orc paladin, a spy called Spud and a walking Van Der Graf Generator. He likes his sagas convoluted, his characters confused, his heroes flawed, and his players skittish. Contrary to rumor, he does not raise prize-winning armadillos. This is his second book for Ars Magica.

Mark would like to thank the original players of Waddenzee's magi for many hundreds of hours of enjoyable game time, even though they will probably never forgive him for his plot twists! Mark would also like to thank Phyllie and Georgie for the kind of support only ferrets can provide.

ANDREW P. SMITH poses as a 31-year-old research scientist and professional pedant living in Constance, at the border of the Rhine and Greater Alps Tribunals. Since he is a quarter German, this, his first book, represents a probably misguided attempt to get more in touch with his Teutonic side. He is beginning to develop a ruthless German efficiency and an appreciation for that country's fine beer, but sadly the arcane secrets of German grammar and humour yet elude him.

Andrew would like to thank the players of Triflumina for testing out the Rhine Gorge saga and providing unwitting inspiration for some of the characters in this book, and the storyguide and players of In Aestio Saxum for inducting him into German roleplaying.

Ars Magica players participate in a thriving fan community by subscribing to email discussion lists (like the Berkeley list), compiling archives of game material (such as Project Redcap), maintaining fan-created web sites, and running demos through Atlas Games' Special Ops program. To learn more, visit www.atlas-games.com/ArM5.

Copyright 2005 Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work by any means without written permission from the publisher, except short excerpts for the purpose of reviews, is expressly prohibited.

Ars Magica, Mythic Europe, Covenants, Guardians of the Forests and Charting New Realms of Imagination are trademarks of Trident, Inc. Order of Hermes, Tremere, and Doissetep are trademarks of White Wolf, Inc. and are used with permission.

Digital Edition Version 1.0