Draganna Tesla (development)

Well, Fixer and other are right about Essential Virtue. It does work the way I think as a bonus to rolls. So If I had "Essential Virtue-Good Fighter (+3 Dexterity)", I would get a +3 to Attack rolls even if my Dexterity as +5.
But Teaching is not a roll.
To affect a Score, it must be an Essential Trait that changes or modifies an existing Characteristic. So "Good Instructor (+3 Communication)" would replace a lower Positive Com score or add to a Negative one, and only apples to oral instruction.
So using that instead, dropping Com from +2 to 0 (and shifting points over to Presence), Keep Good Teacher. then raise Teaching to 6 (a professional level). That puts her at the mark to rapidly teach languages (I could even title the essential virtue as "Good Language Instructor" instead). That makes her excellent for the thing she was groomed for, decent in other areas but not "super", and with that out of the way I can strive towards developing her other potential roles as a spy and investigator (interrogator).

Exceptional characters have exceptional backgrounds, and I do think Draganna qualifies.
I must say, though, I disagree with Fixer's presumption. In my opinion, Teachers and Authors should indeed all have Positive Com scores, or they wouldn't get jobs or have books worth recopying. All knights have positive strength scores, all archers have positive Dexterity, all wizards have positive intelligence. Otherwise they wouldt get the job or they would suck at their craft and everyone would know it. I suppose there are some stupid wizards out there, but they are insignificant and are virtually hedge wizards. There might be a weak knight, who gets killed in his first battle. A poor blacksmith is not going to get much work.
As for Good Teacher, though I would not expect it of every village schoolmarm or craft master, I would think that it would be a preferable trait to recruit for high end university teachers and instructors that work for a covenant and scholars/magi that write the sort of books that get copied for wide publication and handed down through the generations.

Looking at scores with the changes proposed in this post: Com 0 (+3 when instructing in Languages), Good Teacher, Teaching 6 (languages). Totals equal as follow...

  • Writing a Book: Quality 9
  • Teaching a Class in most abilities (such as Magic Theory): Quality 14 (Q20 to a single student)
  • Teaching a class in Languages: Quality 18 (Q24 to a single student)

akkk!
Still a point short. But a stripped down lab...

The budget on this is a fifth of a pound of silver per year. Using rules for Purchased Lab, the result is: -10 for Size -1, +10 for two Minor Virtues, = No Personal Cost. I propose that this lab be owned and operated by the covenant and can e used by any magus or teacher. The final totals are +1 to Teaching; and -1 for Spells, Familiars, & Experimentation (unless using a Lab Text, then it is +0), and no other lab activities are
possible).
Or if you want her to pay for it, then she should have exclusive use of it and the way I would configure it is as so...

Cost is 10q.p for a Major Virtue, and Upkeep costs less than a third of a pound of silver per year. Teaching is the only activity possible with this lab.