''The Order of Hermes'' is a supplement published by

Lion Rampant The lion is a common charge in heraldry. It traditionally symbolises courage, nobility, royalty, strength, stateliness and valour, because historically the lion has been regarded as the "king of beasts". The lion also carries Judeo-Christia ...

in 1990 for the fantasy role-playing game ''

Ars Magica ''Ars Magica'' is a role-playing game set in 'Mythic Europe' – a historically grounded version of Europe and the Levant around AD 1200, with the added conceit that conceptions of the world prevalent in folklore and institutions of the High Mi ...

''.

''The Order of Hermes'' is a supplement that describes The Order of Hermes, the society in ''Ars Magica'' to which all wizards belong. The book describes in detail the thirteen Houses of the Order, each with it own magical specialities and politics.

Publication history

Lion Rampant published ''Ars Magica'' in 1987, and several supplements and adventures followed. ''The Order of Hermes'' was published in 1990, a 126-page softcover book written by

Jonathan Tweet Jonathan Tweet (born 1965) is an American game designer who has been involved in the development of the role-playing games ''Ars Magica'', ''Everway'', ''Over the Edge (game), Over the Edge'', ''Talislanta'', the third edition of ''Dungeons & Dra ...

, with illustrations by

Josh Timbrook Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive (hypocorism) of the given names Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to: People A–J * "Josh", an early pseudonym of S ...

, and cover art by Richard Thomas.

Reception

In the June 1991 edition of *

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

(Issue #170),

Ken Rolston Ken Rolston is an American computer game and role-playing game (pen and paper), role-playing game designer best known for his work with West End Games and on the computer game series ''The Elder Scrolls''. In February 2007, he elected to join th ...

was impressed by the gritty and non-heroic nature of the Order, commenting, "The history is full of violence, injustice, betrayal, corruption, vengeance, and all the great themes that drive the darker, less-heroic sides of epic fantasy." He concluded with a strong recommendation for both role-players as well as non-gaming readers, saying, "The variety and charm of magicks implied in the background is imaginative and inspiring. I recommend this in part for its utility, since it would make an excellent model for a wizards society — good or evil — in a fantasy campaign, but also because it is such a good read and so full of interesting fantasy story and character hooks." In the 2014 book ''Designers & Dragons: The '90s'', game historian Shannon Appelcline commented that compared to previous ''Ars Magica'' releases ''Bats of Mercille'' and ''

The Stormrider ''The Stormrider'' is an adventure published by Lion Rampant (game publisher), Lion Rampant in 1989 for the fantasy role-playing game ''Ars Magica''. Contents ''The Stormrider'' is a scenario designed to introduce new players and gamemasters to ...

'', "''The Order of Hermes'' (1989) was a much more notable product. It developed the idea of 12 different wizardly organizations that players could join in ''Ars Magica''. The new book gave players real handles for their characters and story seeds to carry them into the future; the desires of a House of Hermes could be used as plot hooks throughout a campaign." Appelcline added that "''The Order of Hermes'' has been repeatedly copied, first by Rein•Hagen himself at White Wolf, and later by pretty much the whole industry. haosium's ''RuneQuest'' supplement''

Cults of Prax ''Cults of Prax'' is a tabletop role-playing game supplement for ''RuneQuest''. Originally published by Chaosium in 1979, it was republished in 2016 in PDF format as part of Chaosium's RuneQuest: Classic Edition Kickstarter. Contents ''Cults of ...

'' might have been the true origin of the modern

splatbook Splatbooks are sourcebooks devoted to a particular facet, character class, or fictional faction in a role-playing game, providing additional background details and rules options. For example, a "swords and sorcery" fantasy game might offer splatbook ...

s that filled gaming store shelves in the '00s and '10s, but ''The Order of Hermes'' is the missing link."

Other reviews

*''

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'' #24 (Dec./Jan., 1990)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Order of Hermes Ars Magica supplements Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1990