I'm curious how other Storytellers role play magi that are trying to develop their first covenant-- I've looked over the core rule book and the Covenants book and they're both very helpful. I've got the basic covenant set up. But what about starting money to tide them over the first year, or to buy lab equipment? I understand they start with a reasonable amount of equipment during character generation, just not sure what to allow them to have.
Just curious what other people have done.
Thanks.
We have set up several covenants. For the magical part, it is about build points. The justification tends to be either gifts or rights earned from other covenants for a price. usually votes/support at tribunal for issues that are of interest to the loaner/gifter or a price in vis or books to be paid in the next 10 years or so.
For the mundane part (including books) we have both applied the same formula (established covenants giving the resources for a price) or went for a loan from the local jews for the money and negotiations with local monasteries for some of the books. The jew loan provided a great many hours of entertainment since they were able to spot money created by magic, so returning the loan was not that easy. AND curiously there were some antisemitic riots and the like in the area at the time.... 
Cheers,
Xavi
Thanks, those are some great ideas!
Those would be for relatively poor magi. Recently gauntleted ones. Older magi could easily have accumulated vast amounts of mundane resources, including money if they had put their minds to it, so that is not much of an issue for older magi.
Cheers,
Xavi
This brings up a point. Why would newly gauntleted magi rush to establish a new covenant instead of waiting a few years in e.g. the covenant of their parens building up resources and abilities? It's been an issue in all "spring covenant founded by the PCs" sagas I've seen. I've seen a satisfactory answer only in two. In the first, the PCs where "outcastes" from all over Mythic Europe: not a single one of them was welcome in their Tribunal or indeed in any covenant with a decent reputation, so they stuck together for lack of a better option. In the second, the magi where freshly gauntleted, but the Redcap companion was actually an incredible negotiator who had passed his gauntlet a year before, and had spent that year negotiating for the necessary resources (we played a couple of episodes in flashback). From his point of view, he already had all the training he needed, and wanted to set up his covenant with his grogs and his magi.
We have a saga short after the schism war, due to the amount of covenants destroyed then, there were no spaces for us, and the rhine tribunal decided there should be a place where young magi could settle, the place was in Holland, on the remains of an old Diedne covenant (even though noone told us that). I think we will attract all sorts of new magi in the future. As of how to get wordly goods, I have no idea, we are standing at the rotten remains of the diedne covenant, and I am worrying about those myself, maybe I will get my first season's copying (a starting gift from durenmar, two seasons free copying in the library) this winter, just to escape the cold. I can also see us helping the local farmers with their harvest (and, for lack of spells that could help them, maybe even by hand!)
After one or two years, we could make a creo herbam item to let a group of plants grow overnight (or during the day, sun duration) and process it the day thereafter. This could also help us a lot getting enough timber without disrupting the area too much.
Why would newly gauntleted magi start their own covenant, having little resources? Because they get to have THEIR OWN COVENANT!!!!
They get to make the rules, no more brow-beating from older magi. Sure, life will be tough in the beginning and access to resources (both hermetic and mundane) will be very limited. But they get to determine their own destiny.
Why do you think some kids leave the house when they are 18?
IMS we started a new covenant as a freshly gauntleted magi in a new covenant. Most of the grogs still lived in tents back then. Our magi had been sweet talked into joining by an older magi would wanted the freedom of running his own covenant. Once everyone arrived, he craftily used his influence, authority and certeman to ensure that he got the lions share of the vis and the least amount of service and the PC's found themselves in the same oppresive environment as they were in before. Except this time in a crumby half built covenant with a crap library.
Of course, the older magi goes into final twilight in the first session, leaving them with all his problems and enemies and no backing.
Of course, now they are scions of the tribunal, and well respected, they can rightfully claim that they did it all on their own. No uber covenant backing them.