Also on the subject of rituals, where do we stand on the question of botch dice for mastered rituals? The rules are not entirely clear, which prompted a very long, and occasionally heated, debate about the subject in 2012, found here: [url]https://forum.atlas-games.com/t/spell-mastery-and-ritual-spells/6698/1].
The argument seems to boil down to one side saying that the rules clearly state that mastered spells use a stress die, but can't botch, and the other side saying that a careful read of the rules on rituals implies that mastery merely reduces the number of botch dice by one.
My read on the situation is that the rules are ambiguous, requiring a troupe decision on the matter. In the end, it depends on how prevalent the saga wants to have magic be. Having a single mastery level removing the risk of botching makes ritual spells a lot more appealing and safe to cast. The end result will be more ritual spells being cast. Requiring multiple levels of mastery to avoid botches makes ritual spells a lot more dangerous to cast and expensive to cast safely, with the end result that fewer rituals will ultimately get cast. It seems to me we should decide how common we want rituals to be and settle the rules ambiguity in favor of that factor.
What do the rest of you think?