Interesting divergence. I kind of assume ... well a Master would generally have an Apprentice do some copying from time to time just so they have the experience etc. Code seems important to me just so you can't be accused of dereliction in training an Apprentice up to full Magus status who doesn't know the basics of it. (Not that this would/could deter everyone I suppose.)
But ... since when do Ars players agree about everything? 8P
Wait. You mean to say it is possible for us to agree? :gasp:
To me, OoH/house Lore and Code of Hermes are totally optional for most magi. Basic knowledge required for day to day activities shouldn’t hinge on a score in these. Everybody knows you can’t deprive a magus of magical power, and everyone knows a few anecdotes about how this can apply to depriving of vis, hurting apprentices, destroying lab equipment, etc. Code of Hermes is only required, IMO, to analyze complex cases, or to parse critical information from legal proceedings, or to actually act as a lawyer, between others.
Area Lore I also see as optional, since magi do spend a lot of time indoors, don’t usually care about local gossip and you don’t really need it on a daily basis if you only go to/from a handful of places (but at the same time, I think more magi should actually have it based on their activities…)
For Prof: Scribe... A magus may instruct an apprentice to translate or copy lab texts, but that is as likely to result on xp to Prof:Scribe as in Latin (notice that a minimum score of Latin isn’t required for either… albeit I believe we can argue for a minimum of 3) as in Artes Liberales as in Magic Theory (so that's how you apply Bonisagus Theorem to herbam!)… you get it. And I’m not sure most magus would see copying notes as a good use of their apprentice's time.
In the particular case of Vorsutus, I agree that he is more likely to have spent his time fixing ACs rather then copying texts. =9
But well, that’s a digression.
Historically, professional scribes did not need to understand Latin to make copies of a book. So long as thy know how to scribe each letter, they can do the job. They needed a steady hand, and learned to trace the letters of a specific font efficiently. They also learned about making inks, handling parchments, sharpening quills, etc. My wife makes scrolls in the SCA, and she can certainly scribe a text written in German that someone else wrote, even though she doesn't understand it.
Writing an original text or "translating" a lab text is something else differently, of course. But them, they don't even have to be written in Latin, do they? 
Year 2, Spring
Returning to Rellantali Vorsutus renewed his efforts at developing a network of contacts of his own via correspondence. Gradually he came to the sense that opportunities in Rome were extremely limited due the seeming scarcity of magical resources. In the meantime he devoted himself to pursuing the fundamentals of the Art itself, the grand theoretical structures underpinning the functioning of Realm itself.
(Study Magic Theory Summa + 15xp Magic Theory)
Year 2, Summer
Continuing his studies Vorsutus shifts his writing campaign in his free time to instead reach back to Hibernia, Stonehenge, and even the Loch Leglean Tribunals. The news however that he received from these distant lands was of a growing conflict in the land of the isles. His homeland was ever a fractious and violent place. The longer he meditated on these matters the more certain he became, the more indeed his visions reinforced his certainty, that returning to the Isles permanently would set his fate down a less optimal path in some way. And so he began consider where else he should turn his attention towards.
(Study Magic Theory Summa + 15xp Magic Theory)
Year 2, Autumn
Vorsutus began to grow restless. Impatience to settle into a proper situation of his own began to take over his usual reserved and analytical manner. Chaldeaus remarked upon the change making the young man take stock and consider further options. Keeping up his regimen in the library felt trivial compared to solving his ongoing dilemma yet at least it gave him structure. Elsewise the young Magus was to be found wandering restlessly throughout the grounds of Rellantali.
(Study Magic Theory Summa + 15xp Magic Theory)
Year 2, Winter
The impatience drove Vorsutus forward and shifted the focus of his studies. Now he concentrated on refining his mastery of sympathetic connections. He wanted to develop his abilities to an extent where he would be much more assured of achieving positive results despite needing to penetrate some variety of mystical defenses. Whether with divination or his other abilities. The failure with the Birds in the Sacred Grove of the Cult still rankled him.
(Study Penetration Summa + 15xp Penetration)
You should integrate at least 1 "non productive" season per year, during which your magus only gets exposure xp. If he is a member of the covenant, this may be for maintaining the covenant's resources or relationships. If he is a guest, it is customary to provide some services to the covenant. Doesn't matter what, as this is basically a way to keep the average number of xp per year from being too high.
I just created your magus' stats topic. Only the final results should be posted over there. It should follow the following pattern:
Additionnal posts can be added for lab description, enchantments, and others as you wish.
Note that we make liberal use of hidden sections to summarize long text. See my own magus' stats as an example of how this can be done.
No discussion should take place in the stats topic. Any discussion should be here.
It will be a few before I can rework my season plan etc. in light of this. I forgot about the 45xp/year goal from the chargen guidelines.
I did work up some spells to potentially learn over the course of post gauntlet time in some of this time. Any thoughts/comments on these in the interim?
Wizard's Vigil
MuVi 20
R: Voice, D: Sun, T: Group
As Communion -2 magnitudes.
(Base Spell, TtA pg 75)
(Base 30, +2 Sun)
Invisible Arbalest of Vilano
ReTe 20
R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Ind
Hurl a stone or other object of a size that could be thrown by a sling (or arbalest) at a target within range. Unlike a standard attack spell this spell hurls the stone as a projectile. An aiming roll is required to hit the intended target but if it succeeds Magic Resistance offers no protection. The stone, or object, inflicts +15 damage on impact and has a range increment of 20 paces.
(Base: 15, +1 Touch)
Claw of the Gladiator
PeCo 10
R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Ind
This spell opens a bloody wound on the target, which serves as a Light Wound.
(Base 5, +1 Touch)
Necrotic Touch
PeCo 10
R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Ind
Inflicts the disease of Gangrene (A&A pg 49) on the target. The target must have an open wound for the Gangrene to take root in, howevever if this is the case the onset is immediate.
(Base: 5 (A&A pg 57), +1 Touch)
Purge The Necrotic Wounds
CrCo 20, Ritual
R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Circle
Cures the disease of Gangrene from any diseased wounds within the circle.
(Base 15 (A&A pg 57) +1 Touch)
Panic of the Trembling Heart (Mod.)
CrMe 10
R: Touch, D: Conc, T: Ind
Creates an overpowering fear in one person of a specific object, person, or place.
(Base Spell ArM5 pg 148)
(Base 4, +1 Touch, +1 Concentration)
Rising Ire (Mod.)
CrMe 10
R: Touch, D: Conc, T: Ind
Makes the target furious at someone or something of your choice. A stress roll of 9+ using an appropriate Personality Trait (like Calm) can hold the anger in check, but it is felt strongly regardless of the roll.
(Base Spell ArM5 pg 148)
(Base 4, +1 Touch, +1 Concentration)
Pains of the Perpetual Worry (Mod.)
CrMe 10
R: Touch, D: Conc, T: Ind
Gives someone a nagging, tauting, painful emotion - a recurrent sense of anxiety, a fear of something he or she does not know, a fear of everything, and a fear of nothing. To have this spell cast on you is truly a curse.
(Base Spell ArM5 pg 148)
(Base 4, +1 Touch, +1 Concentration)
The Blossoming of Love
CrMe 10
R: Touch, D: Conc, T: Ind
Makes the target feel an overpowering love and affection for a specified object of fixation. The target will is not otherwise compelled to act inappropriately or outside of their normal bounds and will treat the object of these emotions as they would anyone else for whom they feel/share a deep emotional bond. This may still be behavior they would not undertake without such feelings.
(Base 4, +1 Touch, +1 Concentration)
Rising Passion (Mod.)
CrMe 10
R: Touch, D: Conc, T: Ind
Raises an unnatural carnal lust in a target towards a specified object of fixation. The target has no control over his or her passion and is likely to act inappropriately.
(Base Spell, Rhine pg 73)
(Base 4, +1 Touch, +1 Concentration)
I think there is no problem in keeping this year. Just put enough setbacks in the next one to compensate.
(Note: Assumption here, Year 1 Adventure Reward: Lab Text: Wizard's Vigil - MuVi 20)
(As suggested this year I've taken three seasons with minor xp gain to balance things out xp-wise.)
(Edit: Adjust narrative slightly.)
Year 3, Spring
When Rellantali receives a regular visitation by the Redcaps of Rome they bear a gift for him. The Elder guardian of the Sacred Grove that he tried, and only partially succeeded in assisting, sent him a lab text! And a useful one for anyone of a Mercurian bent. Despite his previous fervor the young magus decides to shift his studies to prepare for undertaking the challenge of the lab text. How would it look to return to the Sacred Grove and not have learned the spell?
Vorsutus writes a letter of thanks to the older mage and expresses his earnest desire to return when he is ready and unravel the mystery of the mystical birds.
(Study Muto Summa: +15xp Muto)
Year 3, Summer
The weeks pass all too quickly as the young magus continues earnestly in pursuit of his goal. The lab text unlocks magic that would have been far too sophisticated for his still developing skills. And the sheer idea of participating competently in a group ritual with older magi makes him smile and renew his efforts throughout the season.
Once this new skill is mastered Vorsutus relaxes for several days. Venturing outside of Rellantali in a way he hasn't practically since his Gauntlet he dares Venice once again. As always the Rellantali men keep guard over him and so his experience of the city is not entirely uncontrolled. He moves carefully, invisibly, with armed guards who are trained to move with and protect one just such as himself. And to prearranged diversions and entertainment. Yet, for all these arrangements not all goes quite according to plan. As he began to head back at the end of a pleasant evening a bystander on the street managed to catch a glimpse of him. The revulsion and stark fear that the sight of Vorsutus engendered in the man lead him to instantly make a sign to ward away evil and the word "stregone" is heard like a curse as the man backs away. Fumblingly he produced a small knife from his belt, yet a moment later he turned and ran into the city.
(Learn Spell: Wizard's Vigil - MuVi 20)(Lab Total: 23)(Exposure: +2xp Magic Theory)
Year 3, Autumn
The memory of the man pulling a knife and then running away from him lingered with Vorsutus long after the event itself. It was seemingly inconsequential yet the memory kept returning and smoldering behind his eyes. He started a new spell design of his own. One that would give him a new way to reach out and punish such churls. Amina, the young lady apprenticed to Dareth of Tytalus, asked him why he felt the need when he discussed his project with her in the library one day. "Look at Venice, it bends to our will Vorsutus. Why do the Mundanes bother you so? Don't you think we have greater matters to be concerned with?"
"Even in Venice, where our influence and indeed even power, are greatest? Never believe that they are not what they are Amina. They would gladly burn you at the stake if they had you firmly in their power. And the whole day they would play music, dance, and throw candy to the children in the street while they did it. It would be a day long celebration all about the fact that they were going to burn you. Forgetting it is dangerous, for all of us."
"Perhaps you should be the one in House Tytalus, my friend." Amina replied, her eyes showing first surprise and then a growing approval. Vorsutus looked back into her eyes thinking of how beautiful hers were and in that moment received a vision of her, looking up from a chair smiling at him while holding a baby to her breast. A baby he somehow knew was his. Blinking Vorsutus came back to his senses to look around only for Amina to have already moved to another part of the library on her own errands.
(Invent Spell: Claw of the Gladiator - PeCo 10)(Lab Total: 23)(Exposure: +2xp Magic Theory)
Year 3, Winter
After the memory of the man from the street, and his fearful eyes, began to fade another replaced it. Amina, and her eyes showing approval, lurked in the back of his mind as he continued with a new design that would augment the first. Wounding was not enough. Deterrence required more. They must fear to transgress the magical world and he would make certain that was so. Dareth and Amina both seemed approving as he sat with them to discuss both his Necrotic Touch design and his plans for the future. Plans such as they were. Options for a suitable situation in Rome were still not forthcoming.
While Vorsutus received no further visions of Amina he decided to pursue the matter now, before they both went their separate ways for life in the hermetic world otherwise. At first she seemed to not believe he was serious. Yet when was he ever not?
A passionate affair ensued and yet somehow Vorsutus could feel that future from his vision slipping away. Something he was certain had gone wrong and he had stepped down a less optimal path through time. Growing in frustration he delved into his visions but could find no answer.
(Invent Spell: Necrotic Touch - PeCo 10)(Lab Total: 23)(Exposure: +2xp Magic Theory)
Spending time in the lab isn't the same as having an unproductive season. You're gaining spell levels (or enchantments, depending on the nature of the lab work) instead of xp, but it is still a productive season.
Unproductive is just that -- unproductive. So your magus should gain only exposure xp.
May I offer a few suggestions that seem appropriate? These all could count as unproductive seasons for Vorsutus. He is also due a couple of seasons of service for the covenant.
You could also have a small adventure to bring the XP down.
Another suggestion: you can adjust the xp given by the summas on year 2. 15xp is a lot for abilities (reasonable, but on the high end). So maybe change it for a lesser source? A tractatus, a (poorly) translated/copied summa, or a book written by the magus who knew the subject but wasn't the better one at passing his knowledge (for an exaggerated example, an incomprehensible (as the flaw) Flambeau who wrote an incredible L6Q18 summa on penetration that no one can quite understand).
Thank you Rafael. I will use some of those ideas once I have time to think on this subject some more.
Hermetic Astrologer Tradition (Oracles of Salerno)
Major Non-Hermetic Virtue: Divination & Augury (Astrology)
Minor Hermetic Virtue: Planetary Magic
Major Hermetic Flaw: Twilight Prone
Note: This Ex Misc. Tradition was designed as a variant of the Hermetic Haruspexes found on Societates pg 108.
The Hermetic Astrologers are a small but continuous tradition of Astrological Oracles that have maintained their ways since Roman times. Long associated with the Empire and the original Cult of Mercury the Astrologers once were referred to as the Oracles of Salerno, where their home Temple remains intact in a sequestered Regio.
The Oracles have intermittently had a well developed relationship with the great school of Salerno but as they do not recruit for the Gentle Gift this has at times been a strained relationship. The Oracles however take scholarship and and learning very seriously and emphasize the synergistic applications with Ritual and Ceremonial magic as magicians of Latin and Mercurian bent.
While their own tradition and minor cult the Oracles are a continual line of pagan Mercurian priests and have maintained ties to the Cult of Mercury in any incarnations in which it has existed throughout their history. Today they are core members of the Cult of Mercury in the Roman Tribunal and at times consulted as Oracles by Mercurians from throughout Europe. They take their paganism seriously yet do not have qualms about concealing it in a world which would be unreceptive, thus relatively few have the Pagan Flaw though some do.
The Oracles recruit most particularly for those with pre-existing oracular expressions in their Gift. Apprentices are often foretold by prophecies and visions and then sought out very particularly. Frequently the apprentices have similarly foreseen the coming of their would be Master, due to their own powers and the significant shift in their lives such an even represents. Thus Oracle apprentices frequently if not quite invariably have Premonitions, Second Sight, or other abilities of a like nature.
The Temple is regarded as the true and sacred home of the Tradition, a place both dedicated to studying their particular oracular abilities and of refuge from a world that can be all too hostile to Oracles. Members of the Oracles also often congregate there, in meetings called Assemblies, from throughout Mythic Europe in the year immediately preceding Regional Tribunal and Grand Tribunal meetings to discuss the interests of their Tradition... and anything they may have foreseen of significance to the broader Order. Members then are urged to take what they can garner of value from these Assemblies and attend their respective Tribunals to lend what counsel they can.
As a minor Mystae Cult the Oracles of Salerno focus on deepening and expanding abilities of an oracular nature and on the mysteries of Hermetic Astrology and Celestial Magic due to their particular emphasis on Astrology as their core divinatory method. It is customary for newly Gauntleted Magi of this Tradition to come and spend a year in service to the Oracle Temple in Salerno. It is preferred if this year is during an Assembly of the Tradition, yet this is not a requirement.
How large a tradition are we talking here? The text makes it appear as if there are dozens of them, which I find unlikely.
If the tradition has such strong Latin roots, how come they haven't been completely integrated into one of the other Houses? Usually, the Ex Misc traditions are from the fringes of the Order. Here you have a tradition which has its roots in the heart of the Order, is widely spread through it, and yet has kept its identity seperate... So why and how did that happen?
So I don't think there would be dozens (at least not high multiples of dozens for sure), maybe a small number to perhaps a handful in each other Tribunal and then a somewhat higher concentration in Rome/Thebes as their homeland(s). My intent was/is for them to be a presence but still definitely a minor tradition. It wouldn't strike me as strange or impossible to say there may not be any in residence in sufficiently removed Tribunals like say Novgorod or Hibernia. (which would also explain the reason Vorsutus was "found" by a Pater from Rome I suppose)
So for a bit of context and/or background on my thinking, first a citation.
I see them being very similar to the Haruspexes and the Oracles of Didyma from Through the Aegis, as a line of wizards still existent from pre-Order times. And who have sufficiently idiosyncratic ways and not-fully integrated methods (divination+astrology etc.) that they don't wish to be subsumed into a large House and their tradition and magic lost. The recruiting process they follow in searching via oracular means for the "right" sort of apprentices for them means they have a harder time finding/recruiting apprentices ... but I'd say they end up finding candidates that "more suitable" for their particular purposes when they do find them. This keeps them relatively smaller even compared to other Ex Misc traditions, but not as small as say the Oracles of Didyma who are only blood descendants of the same lineage.
They would I imagine have a somewhat nonstandard view of the world/mindset that ties them all together as being a community composed of people with these sorts of oracular gifts and burdens. For example ... Vorsutus I think would have trouble imagining being trained outside of such a tradition given the nature of his Gift/powers. A sense that "only" these people really understand me, even among Mages, if you will. Oracles understanding and training fellow Oracles. This I think would be part of their sense of purpose as a tradition, that they find those like themselves and train them. A subset even among Gifted, and therefore correspondingly even more rare.
I find it hard to believe that there would be 2 seperate traditions based on Divination.
Why don't you simply go with an Haruspex and tack on Planetary Magic as a personal virtue selection, instead of designing an all-new tradition?
Several reasons come immediately to mind, both mechanical and story/fluff.
The first, mechanical, reason would be that Divination only gives you one method before requiring another distinct minor virtue to select an additional method. If he was trained by the Haruspexes then that first method should arguably be Haruspexy and not Astrology. So that would require both Planetary Magic and another Minor for doing Divination as Astrology as personal virtues. Doing it as a new tradition literally saves two virtue points in the build.
I'm also not really wanting to be focused on Intellego per se as one of his early/primary arts because I am much more interested in Rego Vim for tunnels etc. in the concept. So that is taking the build in a different direction that I didn't really want to do either. So that is three points going in directions that aren't desired. And we already have a resident Intellego Specialist who isn't me!
Conceptually I came to the idea for putting these elements together (tunnel focused intangible assassin style caster + astrology divination) because both use Arcane Connections for their effects and Astrologers also already inherently have the skills for creating horoscopes for sympathetic bonuses (among other things). So there seemed to be natural synergy there.
I'd also question the idea that there wouldn't be multiple diviners out there. It isn't an uncommon theme in different cultures for various types of magic etc. Also the material on Divination even specifically mentions that Astrology is a particularly popular method amongst Hermetics. And given the deep Greco-Roman cultural ties with Hellenic Astrology etc. it doesn't just seem like something that "could" exist to me, but rather to be something that "should" exist and feels like a distinct lack that it doesn't.
Fluff-wise for me personally I also just don't like (find interesting) Haruspexy and like (find interesting) Astrology/Celestial Magic etc. That is more just my own predisposition but ... hey that is also part of why I was striving to build it a certain way.
But otherwise the flavor of the Haruspexes is exactly along the lines of what I want (a latin/roman magical tradition inside Ex Misc), and am trying to somewhat emulate. Though I won't say I haven't made some tweaks as it were.
Thoughts?
I don't see anything in the Hermetic Haruspexes section of HoH:S (p.108) which leads me to assume that all members of the tradition use haruspicy as their default method. I could certainly see a member of the tradition selecting a different method. It seems more sensical to me to have the Hermetic Haruspexes tradition integrate other divinatory methods over time, than create a competing tradition.
I can understand that you would feel that the default Affinity with Intellego would be less appropriate for the build you want. This could be simply a case where your magus is part of a sub-tradition (of a few magi) which offers a different Minor Hermetic Virtue.
So the fluff would be basically the same, with the Hermatic Haruspexes being a bit more broad than the bare-bone description of the tradition that HoH:S gives. The tradition basically invited along other divinatory traditions to join them over the centuries. This gives you basically the build you are looking for, while also making use of something that's already partly defined.
I'd propose putting the whole Hermetic Haruspexes tradition's population at around a score, with those practicing the astrological version of your magus at around 6. How does that sound to you?
Just for clarity I googled "score" to be sure I knew how many that was. I always assumed it was around a dozen but google says 20. Either way that makes the Haruspexes somewhat small, but that isn't outside the realm of what I was going for anyway. Though fewer of an astrological bent than I intended. But all in all I don't think I see serious grounds for complaint here at all.
Though this begs the question (I don't think the Haruspex material sets anything specific) as to whether the Haruspexes have a "seat" or "home temple" as I have posited for my Oracles of Salerno writeup. And/or whether my planned for "hermetic astrologer lore" should be rebranded "hermetic haruspex lore", or something else, or tossed as irrelevant now.
Yes, a score is 20.
I think 20 members doesn't make the Hermetic Haruspexes a small tradition. All of House Ex Miscellanea is about 180, so that makes it 10% of the House, which is about average. HoH:S p.108 mentions that traditions typically have 5 to 25 members. The same chapter describes the Hermetic Haruspexes as one of the 8 larger traditions of the House. If 20 is the average size for those, then they account for 160 of the 180 magi ex miscellanea.
Of course, the exact number of Haruspexes could be somewhat higher (say up to 30 magi), since the accuracy of the Ex Miscellanea's census is notoriously hard to perform. 
Since the Hermetic Haruspexes have Divination & Augury as the mandatory Supernatural virtue, and it is of a mystic nature, it could make sense for them to have a Mystery Cult Lore. This would make them into a minor Mystery Cult.
However, I think it is more likely that the tradition simply teaches its apprentices their signatire virtues when they open their Gift, as part of their normal training. In that case there would be no Mystery Cult Lore, just a normal Organization Lore, or a specialization in a wider Organization Lore. In that case your magus could have any of the following: