Lex Arcana is a historical-fantasy roleplaying game in a Roman Empire that never fell.
In Lex Arcana, you are a Custos (warden) of the Cohors Auxiliaria Arcana, sent by the Emperor to the four corners of the world to further the study of arcane lore, investigate forbidden cults, and face the threat posed by dangerous supernatural creatures.
ADVENTURES IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
1229 AB URBE CONDITA:
AN ALTERNATE WORLD
In the fifth century CE, the final collapse of the Western Roman Empire closes a chapter of history that lasted more than one thousand years. Gods and heroes are forgotten, and with them the dream of a nation unifying the known world…
Lex Arcana is a historical fantasy role-playing game, set in an alternative fifth century CE where magic exists.
In the thirteenth century since the foundation of Rome, an Emperor still watches over twenty provinces and the different peoples inhabiting them. Ruling with the help of divinatory powers, the Emperor grants stability to a world threatened by supernatural phenomena and dark omens.
In this divergent timeline, the Roman Empire managed to steer away from the course of events which led to its historical collapse, thanks to the mastery of the arts of Divination. By being able to see beyond the barriers of time, the Roman Emperors have kept their enemies at bay for centuries, outside the borders of the Empire and within them.
Lex Arcana - Core Rulebook
Join the Cohors Auxiliaria Arcana, enter the world of Lex Arcana and dive into the mysteries and dangers of ancient Rome.
You and the other Custodes will travel to the four corners of the land, investigate terrifying threats, recover lost relics, unearth forgotten secrets and fight legendary supernatural creatures.
The Core Rulebook includes:
- Full rules to play Lex Arcana
- A full world to play in
- 12 pre-generated Custodes
- Rules to make and advance your Custos
- Advice for the Demiurge
- The ancient world bestiary
- Two extensive introductory adventures: The Long Winter Nights and The Mothers of Cenabum
From misty Britannia to the immense rivers of Babilonia, from the Egyptian deserts to the beautiful beaches of Italia, the adventures awaiting the Custodes are as numerous as the Empire the Cohors Arcana must defend is large. For the glory of Rome and the Empire without end!
Enter the world of Lex Arcana and dive into the mysteries and dangers of ancient Rome.
The Roman Empire in which we live the adventures of the role-playing game Lex Arcana is a Rome that is very different from the one we studied in school.
Our story begins in what for us
would have been the year 476 CE
The year in which the Western Roman Empire fell. Counting the years from 753 BC, when Romulus conventionally founded his village, we’re in the year 1129 ab Urbe condita.
In Lex Arcana, though, the Empire never fell, never divided into Eastern and Western, and is far from declining. The timeline we know was changed in 212 CE, the year in which Caracalla granted Roman citizenship to the whole Empire. From that moment on, a new history has begun, a history essentially based on magic. In this alternate Rome there are magic forces at work that helped the Empire remain strong and stable. An attentive assimilation policy allowed the Empire to learn from every culture it came into contact with during the expansion, making the most of each peoples’ knowledge of magic.
Despite this, in 1129 aUc new hostile magical forces threaten the Empire. Emperor Theodomirus therefore promulgates the Lex Arcana, a law that establishes a unit of explorers of the supernatural, the Cohors Arcana.
From misty Britannia to the immense rivers of Babilonia, from the Egyptian deserts to the beautiful beaches of Italia, the adventures awaiting the Custodes are as numerous as the Empire the Cohors Arcana must defend is large. For the glory of Rome and the Empire without end!
Lex Arcana - Encyclopaedia Arcana
This book describes the Empire in which the Lex Arcana role-playing game adventures are set. A Rome very different from that taught in school, in which magic, the supernatural and the gods coexist with the usual army legions, hordes of barbarians and wild beasts.
The Encyclopaedia Arcana is the definitive Lex Arcana setting compendium, with innumerable ideas for players.
Encyclopaedia Arcana includes:
- Detailed descriptions of the 20 Provinces of the Empire and communication routes
- The structure of Imperial organization, bureaucracy and legions, including the Cohors Auxiliaria Arcana
- Roman culture, economy and society, from banquets to smuggling
- Detailed entries on Medicamenta, Poisons and Potions
- New secrets linked to Divination, Magic and Prophecies
- More than ten new maps showing military camps, harbours and other locations ready to be dropped into your next adventure.
The Encyclopaedia Arcana is the shortest path to bring your adventures to a whole new level of detail, for the glory of Rome and our Empire without end!
In Lex Arcana, the player characters are Custodes of the Cohors Auxiliaria Arcana, a special chapter of the Praetorian Guard.
The Cohors Auxiliaria Arcana numbers a few hundred highly specialized and gifted individuals, soldiers and civilians alike.
The Cohors Auxiliaria Arcana
In Lex Arcana, players take the role of Custodes of the Cohors Auxiliaria Arcana, a special chapter of the Praetorian Guard appointed by Imperial decree to search out and study any supernatural phenomena. Its mission is even more specific: to identify and possibly stop any occult and magical activity. For behind the façade of luxurious ostentation and military might of the Roman Empire, many threats of an arcane nature are constantly gnawing away at its foundations: forbidden cults make converts among the poor and dispossessed denizens of the great cities, while enemy sorcerers unleash frightening monsters against the legions stationed at the frontiers.
The Custodes are not just soldiers enlisted to fight or march: they count among their number mages, warriors, explorers, scholars, and diplomats, coming from the most distant provinces of the mpire and assigned with very special tasks.
They are selected from among the citizens of the Empire by officers
appointed to the role of recruiters by the Praetorian Prefects. Upon selection, each recruit is evaluated by a commission and then assigned to one of five training courses.
To accomplish their task, the Custodes of the Cohors Arcana travel the four corners of the known world and investigate unusual occurrences among hostile populations, or unveil mysteries hidden behind foreign incantations.
Lex Arcana - Aegyptus
This volume is the first official setting module for Lex Arcana, describing the beautiful and mysterious Province of Aegyptus. In the land of the ancient pharaohs, descendants of the gods themselves, the Cohors Auxiliaria Arcana must face intrigue and conspirations, curses from times forgotten, sand demons and secrets so dangerous they could break the wisest of minds.
Aegyptus contains:
- Details on the main regions, cities and individual from the Delta to the Vale of the Nilus, Lybia e Cyrenaica, the desert and the Isle of Crete.
- Endless plot and adventure hooks, ranging from the greatest threats of the Province to its most famous treasures and millennia old mysteries.
- Tens of tables and sidebars with artefacts, encounters and other dangers to throw in the mix.
- New Rules, Specializations, Weapons, Special Actions and Conditions.
- New Enemies, Monsters, Indigitamenta and Rituals.
- Three breath-taking adventures that see the Custodes travel from Creta to the western oasis, from the lush swamps of the Delta to the most dangerous of lost cities in the desert.
Are you ready for the sands of time and gold?
A game that will appeal to veteran players and newcomers to Lex Arcana alike
Lex Arcana was first developed 25 years ago, but its core rules and mechanics are still fresh and elegant: depending on your character’s skill level, roll a die or a combination of dice. To succeed, you must beat the difficulty rating, named difficulty threshold.
The truly unique part, however, is that players get to decide what combination of dice to roll. For each roll players make, they decide how a big a risk they want to take. The difficulty rating is provided by the Demiurge, including in the fast and lethal combat phase.
Lex Arcana - Dacia and Thracia
Dacia and Thracia, two among the darkest and most dangerous provinces of the limes danubianus, dark and wild Dacia on one hand and Thracia and its barbarian hordes on the other. Here, Roman conquest is but a pale light staving off darkness and turmoil, fittings of civilization to tame a recalcitrant, bloodthirsty and violent beast. Here, ancestral secrets, nameless horrors and armies of raiders pushing on the border are but a grim daily event, filling both locals and agents of the Capital with dread.
In this module players can find:
- Details on countries, main cities, and prominent individuals from the two provinces on the Danube;
- Countless hints and hooks for adventures and scenarios, focused on these territories and the land of Scythia
- Fabled treasures and gruesome mysteries.
- artefacts, encounters, new rules, specializations, weapons, equipment, and magic disciplines
- New enemies and monsters, learning new rituals and magic abilities
- Also included in the volume are three ready-to-play adventure
Lex Arcana - Demiurge Screen
As Lex Arcana Masters, you can extend your game experience with this fantastic tool : The Demiurge Screen
Lex Arcana - Italia
Italia, the most sacred land of the Empire, realm of ancient Gods and cradle of Rome, nurtures in her heart monstrous creatures, ancient traditions shrouded in mystery and civilizations even older than the very Urbs. Many are the dangers the Cohors Auxiliaria Arcana will be called to avert right on the doorstep of the Eternal City!
Here the Cohors Auxiliaria Arcana (the Player Characters) can find:
- detailed information on all regions, main cities, and prominent individuals from the Alps to the heel of Italy, and the large islands of Sicily and Sardinia.
- sections dedicated to hints and suggestions to develop adventures, information on people, religions, political intrigues and monstrous creatures rooted in the long history of the peninsula.
- artefacts, encounters, and other dangers to enrich your game sessions, in addition to new rules, specializations, weapons, equipment, and magic items.
- Also included in the volume are three breath-taking adventures that will bring the Custodes from the snowclad Alps to sun-bathed Etruria, from the Sybil’s den in Cuma down to the gates of Avernus, the Land of the Dead.
The Demiurge performs a delicate task, as they have to manage the entire game world.
The Demiurge plays a very delicate role with respect to the other players, who simply need to interpret their own characters. The Demiurge must in factmanage the entire world of play: describe the places visited, control the actions of non-playercharacters (NPCs) and make the events in the adventure occur.
When preparing for an adventure to be played, the Demiurgecan be compared to a screenplay writer: they select and arrangethe elements of the ‘stage’ on which the characters will recite inthe next game session. Most of the time, the Demiurge will play the role of narrator, using words to describe what happens to the group of Custodes: the Demiurge in fact represents the eyes and ears of the playersin the world of play, the primary source of information for the group’s collective imagination. Their descriptions focus the attention of all players and encourage their interaction.
The Demiurge is responsible for supervising all game sessions. Over the course of the adventure, the Demiurge requests the pertinent die rolls, describes the results of the Custodes’ actions, and slowly evolves the plot of the adventure based on what the characters do, discover, and understand.
Lex Arcana - Britannia
This official setting module for Lex Arcana explores the mysterious and cryptic Province of Britannia. Britannia is a fierce land of warrior people, illusions, and inexplicable magic – the only Province where Rome was forced to build a Vallum to protect its borders. Here, the Cohors Arcana will face primordial forces, blood rites, and otherworldly powers whose nature the Empire yet ignores.
Britannia contains:
- Details on all regions, main cities, and prominent individuals from the shores of the Oceanus Britannicus to the sacred border of Hadrian’s Vallum and further north still, to the icy lands of the Caledoni, at the world’s edge.
- Countless tips for playing adventures involving the island’s many magical traditions, horrid druidic blood rituals, ancient warrior societies, the mysteries lying beyond the Vallum, and even unfamiliar divinities.
- Tens of tables and sidebars with artefacts, encounters and other dangers to enrich game sessions.
- New Rules, Specializations, Weapons, Equipment, and Magic Artifacts.
- New Enemies, Monsters, Indigitamenta, and Rituals.
- New Enemies, Monsters, Indigitamenta, and Rituals.
- Three thrilling adventures that will plunge the Custodes into the complex web of local politics, force them to face the perils of the icy northern seas, and place them at the center of a surprising version of the Arthurian legend.
Are you ready to face Britannia’s grim mysteries and illusions?
The Demiurge performs a delicate task, as they have to manage the entire game world.
Since its foundation, Rome has focused its interest in magic upon the study of Divination—ritual practices committed to foretell the future, descry past events, read portents,and interpret the favor of the gods.
The Art of Divination is divided into six disciplines: each discipline allows the Custodes to access a specific field of divinatory magic.
- Precognition – predicting the future.
- Clairvoyance– seeing, or locating, places or individuals far away.
- Retrocognition– knowing the past.
- Interpretation of Omens– interpreting the meaning of signsand omens.
- Interpretation of Dreams– interpreting the hidden meaningof dreams.
- Favor of the Gods– perceiving the favor or disfavor of thegods themselves.
Each discipline is associated with one or more ritualsof Div-ination; The Custodes do not take magic lightly and perform a ritual only when they have a clear goal in mind.
When performing a ritual, a Custos glimpses what lies behind the veil between the material and supernatural worlds. But the divine world containsthe past, the present, and the future mixed together: to make sense of any response, the officiant must look for something specific among the immense vastness of possibilities, focusing on a place, a particular event, awell-known person, and so on…
Mysteries of the Empire I & II
This two volumes collects several official adventures for Lex Arcana, second edition, until now only available digitally, plus exciting special content!
From the western beaches of Hispania to the frozen lands of the north, the Custodes will face the perils and pitfalls of the ancient world amid dark prophecies, monsters of myth, and shadowy powers aiming to overturn the fate of our Empire without end!
Lex Arcana – Mysteries of the Empire I and II: the fastest route to adventure!
