No, all the labs for PCs are fully setup and + 1 size, with "superior equipment", "superior tools" and "superior construction" virtues.
OK, I'll check those virtues out when I get home, I'm sure it will help spell design, but not enough to reduce it to one season i'm sure.
Love me my Dropbox w/ PDFs of Ars Sourcebooks...
Superior Construction : +1 Safety, +1 Aesthetics
Superior Equipment: +1 General Quality, +2 Upkeep*, +1 Safety; +1 Vis Extraction
Superior tools: +1 Upkeep*, +1 Safety; +1 Items
*I believe Upkeep costs are reduced by the specialists from zlorfik's build points. I haven't done significant number crunching, but the wealth level is such we don't have to do it.
And if you want to invent the spell in a season, you still need to have 2x the lab total, if it is a brand new spell. The only bonus that assists for spells is the +1 to General Quality, but it assists for everything.
I cannot find Ulrich's character sheet anywhere. Can someone post it or direct me to it?
If there is a lab ready in Autumn 1220 and Ulrich's Int+Magic Theory total is at least +3 then Methuselah can learn the Aegis of the Hearth ritual from the lab text in Autumn 1220.
Methuselah's Rego Vim casting total with aura would be: +1 Sta +7 Rego +5 Vim +1 Artes Liberales +1 specialty Ritual Magic +1 Philosophae +1 specialty Ritual Magic +5 Aura = +22. With an extra pawn of vis that total becomes +24 so Methuselah needs to roll a 1.
Unless there is a rule that Rituals are always stressful then Methuselah can cast the spell by himself as the minimum 1 die roll would =25 meaning the spell would be succesfully cast although Methuselah would lose several fatigue levels.
If the roll must be stressful then I believe Methuselah would have 1 base + 8 Vis - 3 cautious sorcerer = 6 botch dice. This is still much safer then the Wizard's Communion.
Methuselah can use up to 5 Vim vis and up to 7 Rego vis to cast the spell.
Anyone see any mistakes in my calculations? Any reason not to proceed with this plan?
Thanks. Yeah, I knew it wasn't enought to reduce it to one. Which is fine. I'll still get it done quickly.
His sheet isn't ready, yet. We'll put it up on Obsidian Portal when it is.
There will be a lab ready in Autumn 1220.
You indicated you read all the threads and are up to date. You're missing something very important in your analysis. Aegis must penetrate (if you want the warding effect). It's RAW and I subscribe to it. And yes, it underpowers Aegis, but it also makes Wizard's Communion a necessary spell to almost any Magus who can get to 3rd Magnitude MuVi.
If it were the case that the spell only needed to be cast, then anyone already here could do it as shown here.
np. Autumn will be perfect for me. I actually prefer to see what's coming at Tribunal before tackling on my first season as Princeps.
wow, you guys have been chatty today. 8)
I wasn't very present today, wiping up my boss' computer mess (while pretending not to notice the telltale signs of his chatrooms addiction 
), but this allowed me to negociate an extra holiday tomorrow.
I just joined Obsidian Portal, and sent you a pm there.
I presumed as much, since my imminent arrival is in Fiona's season, winter 1220. As for Princeps duties, as shown in previous posts, we settled as such : Methuselah/Summer 1221, Fieltarn/Autumn 1221.
Oh, I forgot to advise everyone at the time, but yesterday I re-edited Fieltarn's sheet, in agreement with Jonathan, so as to be able to contribute to the casting of Wizard's Communion. Wim is still not one of his forte, for the moment, but every little bits help.
Fiona and Alexei have some resource contention to resolve... Tie goes to the first poster.
Fiona, your lab is setup. You can learn a spell and plant your garden simultaneously...
and, iirc, you can only improve the Refinement in your lab once a year, so she can't improve the lab until at least Spring 1221, right?
Okay, I'll poke around and see what new spell she wants to invent. I was thinking about a variant of Shape of the Woodland Prowler that doesn't require a wolf pelt, but since she's been using the one that does in her thread, I'll hold off on that until the next go-round.
Oh, and yoink!
Wait! What'd I miss?!
All the labs are setup +1 size. Founding members had the benefit of extensive correspondence with Apollodorus to have had items installed, such as your still
I don't think that's correct. You got a page reference for that?
It is, however, probably a good rule of thumb, but I can't see anything in Covenants that jumps out at me with that limitation
Ah ok, that's fine, I don't see that as something Alexei would have requested. Plus I like the gradual lab improvement process.
The still was Fiona's
If you want to backup and take 2 seasons to setup a lab from scratch, I have no objection to that...
No we'll keep what we have from the boon that was paid for and I'll work from there.
Ah...found where I got that from.
So, she could increase her lab's Refinement right away, to get it to +1. Once she's been in the lab at least a year, she can get it to +2. Once she's been in it for two years, she can increase it to +3 - which is the highest she can get it, unless she increases her Magic Theory.
I think you're parsing it extremely finely.
Take out the parenthetical part. A maga must be familiar with the lab and have a Magic Theory equal to at least the desired refinement score. To be familiar you have to have worked in it for at least a number of years equal to the current refinement. Which I take it to mean you move into a new lab with a refinement of +5 you have to wait five years before you can refine it further. I consider it axiomatic to be familiar with a lab of your own construction.