Ars Magica -> RQ/BRP Conversion?

[Vortigern]

Has anyone done any previous work on an Ars Magica conversion? Would anyone be willing to share their ideas regarding such?

I'm relatively new to RQ/BRP, and I find a great deal that I like about it. However my favorite setting has always been the Mythic Europe of Ars Magica, and the Order of Hermes etc. that accompany it.

Before I begin turning my own hand to the task as it were, I thought it would be perhaps be better to see if anyone else with more system experience had already approached this?

 

[Deleriad]

Has anyone done any previous work on an Ars Magica conversion? Would anyone be willing to share their ideas regarding such?

I'm relatively new to RQ/BRP, and I find a great deal that I like about it. However my favorite setting has always been the Mythic Europe of Ars Magica, and the Order of Hermes etc. that accompany it.

when it comes to conversion pretty much all you need is to convert the magic system. For the rest you could just use RQ stats. E.g. a Grog with chain armour and sword & shield would just be some standard mercenary.

The biggy is the magic system. I've seen various attempts at verb+noun magic in RQ/BRP and tried some myself but have never been happy with the results. AM chose a system that supported the magic as skill tests are two things added together. Adding together percentages in RQ really doesn't work. You can do it but it's like hammering a nail with a screwdriver.

That said, you could use a variant of Manipulation and Grimoire as verb + noun. For example, Creo (verb) + Corpus (noun).

Verbs could act like Manipulation - you don't roll it but your skill indicates your ability to affect the noun.

The noun would be like a grimoire skill: you roll against it and your skill with it generates the Intensity/Level of the final spell.

To my eyes this looks like it would work.

Alternately, you could just use RQ sorcery and generate a list of grimoires that the different orders have access to. In that case you could also raid Deus Vult for setting information. Although I haven't read the BRP supplement Merrie England, it might also be useful.

This doesn't get into the whole land of faerie stuff but you might find that the spirit magic powers in RQII can be reskinned as faerie powers. It depends on how literal you want to be.