1.) Example : Magi find lab texts for formulaic spells in a covenant libray; do they need to spend seasons 'translating' them before they can learn them? Is it the case that the magi whom produced the lab texts must have written them up (page 102) in order that others can understand them?
2.) It states that if a Magus's lab total exceeds the level it can be learnt in one season, THEN why can it then be learnt when his/her lab total just meets the level? I,m a little confused here!
In every troupe I have played with, we have assumed that you translated your labtexts into a readable form before putting them in the covenant library.
This need not be the case however. Mind you, your sodalis would probably complain if eg you claimed covenant services for putting un-translated labnotes in the library.
Good question.
I don't have a ready answer.
Just play with it, yeah?
But the requirement for a lab text is that you exceed the level of the spell by 1, because?
There is a bit of an inconsistency in the rules for learning from lab texts and generating a character (post gauntlet). The maximum level of a spell that one may learn during apprenticeship and post gauntlet advancement is Te+Fo+Int+MT+3(+ other bonuses, but this is not explicit, and technically a strict reading of the RAW could disallow adding the bonus for a magical focus!). That is equal to not greater than, which all of the later rules for doing something with a lab text stipulate. I can understand this "bonus"for learning a spell from one's master, but the same bonus shouldn't apply during post gauntlet advancement and then suddenly disappear once play starts. For consistency, I just allow a spell to be learned so long as the LT is greater than or equal to the level of the lab text(s).
Given the choice I'd change the rules for spells learned in apprenticeship to lab total greater than... for consistency's sake (perhaps changing the formula to make the actual level unchanged) instead of changing the rules for learning spells from other's notes.
Inventing a spell from scratch requires accumulating levels above the total. And if the rule isnt' that having a lab text lets you have a total equal to the level, it should.