As a magus you wield magical might beyond humanity's comprehension. You command the wind to blow, the sea to part, the forest to wither. You are powerful indeed, but what is the value of worldly power if you must pay for it with your eternal soul? In the eyes of the Divine only your virtue is worthy, only your soul is sacred. The Reward cares not for your life's arcane conquests. At final judgement, before Heaven's gate, only your pure soul will save you. What salvation will your base power offer then?

Pax Dei is an Ars Magica sourcebook that invokes the glory and majesty of the Divine Realm in Mythic Europe. Player and storyguide alike are made privy to the Church's worldly designs, and are offered brilliant insight into the Reward itself. Not only may you pursue Divine will, but you may now reconcile your magic and piety to rise above even the Order of Hermes.

This book goes a long way towards trying to make the Church (or at least the "good members" of it) seem a bit more palatable to the gaming world, which I must praise. The presentations on angels, on sainthood, and even on the tempers of the Divine aura are quite intriguing. There is still a strong effort to make the Albegensians into 12th century hippies, though, which is find ridiculous; the Albegensians were at least as self-righteous as the Christian authorities of the era and as strongly determined that "there is my way or damnation, no middle ground."

While this is a very well written supplement, few people will want to slog through it, which is sad. It is filled with deep background on the nature of Heaven and the Church. It helps correct some of the anti-Church views of earlier supplements. Still, many people will find it "preachy". Hey, storyguides! If you are to accept a Middle Ages as people at the time accepted it, one where demons and devils DO exist, then Christianity must exist to balance the Forces of Evil out. This would mean that the Church is not evil, even though some particular members of it might be.

Just remember -- the Mongols are coming, backed by dragons... They must be the Legions of Hell...

(this was the popular view at the time)