[color=red]Stonehenge Saga players – read at your own risk.
I have a few questions about the Virtue Diedne Magic and how it's acquired. Very doubtful that it's covered in the RAW, per se, but I'm fishing for ideas and input.
In my saga(s), we use the character building and developmental rules from Apprentices, including "teaching" new Virtues. Thus, it is theoretically possible (although, likely, rather difficult) for a magus to teach his apprentice Diedne Magic.
Given that, technically, every apprentice runs the risk of being taken by a Bonisagus, would a maga "initiate" her apprentice into Diedne Magic at any point before the last season of apprenticeship, in the hopes that their Initiation/Teaching Total is high enough to compensate for any Hermetic or Supernatural Flaws the apprentice already has?
Is it more reasonable that a Diedne Magus look for an apprentice that already has the Diedne Magic Hermetic Virtue (i.e. being exceptionally skilled with Spontaneous Magic) or that they look for a Gifted apprentice and trust in their abilities to teach Diedne Magic?
If the latter, would there be anything above and beyond the normal "has the Gift" requirement for the apprentice?
From reading the rules on "teaching" Hermetic Virtues from Apprentices (p. 42), it seems much more reasonable to my simple mind that the better approach would be to treat learning Diedne Magic as a Mystery Initiation (The Mysteries: Revised Edition pp. 10-16, roughly), with a Major Ordeal inflicting Dark Secret on the Initiate (even though you get it for free with the Virtue, it's still a Major Flaw) which grants a +9 to the Initiation Script. Does this seem reasonable? And if so, does it seem the "best" way to do it, or can my sodales see a better way?
Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas?