As I read Mutantum Magic, in HoH: TL, it's effectively a House Mystery. It's a magical lineage from one of the great House Mercere practitioners kept largely in the family. If a Magus Mercere is brought up Mutantum, but isn't taught Tamed Magic, is there any reason he can't be trained in it after Gauntlet?
It doesn't technically read like a mystery to me, but in the absence of a generic post-CC mechanic for gaining Virtues/Flaws, it seems like the most appropriate mechanic to use. Other than Mercere wondering why the heck the magus/maga waited so long to take advantage of their lineage, it doesn't seem like there's anything that should prevent it.
I have a background reason (and you can only take the one Hermetic major virtue) - and he's just a couple years out of Gauntlet.
Mutantum Magic is emphatically not a Mystery, it's taught in Apprenticeship and probably follows the Apprentices rules if it's not learned by the magus normally.
So if you want to learn it, seek out an extremely skilled teacher who has the Virtue. (That combination may not exist. Magi Mercere are uncommon, Mutants are a subfaction of an already small house and not all Mutants have access to Tamed Magic.)
The canon is in conflict here.
Mutantum Magic is probably a virtue that should not be taught during apprenticeship, even though the rules in Apprentices allow it, or if it is taught, it's taught only because the individual meets the criteria mentioned under the Mutantum Magic virtue: they are of the blood of Mutantes. By extension, Tamed magic should be the same criteria because one needs Mutantum Magic to have the Tamed Magic virtue. It's explicitly stated in HoH:TL that Mutantum magic is passed by blood, and that Tamed Magic is only allowed if one has Mutantum Magic as a virtue, as well.
I would say that to the extent that it's taught, it definitely can only be taught to individuals from the vulgar bloodline of Mercere. But like I said, fewer than half of the Merceres practice it; the biggest subset are the Mercurians, and then there's all the independent Merceres. So it's probably taught by the Mutant master if it doesn't spring up naturally.
Which partly explains why there are no canon examples of Mutant Magi Mercere; you have to be of the bloodline and the magic line.
Really, all I'm after is the Tethered Magic virtue without the AC problem. For the same 4 points, I figured I'd take the package deal, with a goal of appearing to use magic items (Magi Mercere being discouraged to cast spells overtly).
I think the real reason that there aren't any canonical Magical Mercere in 5th Edition is because there are only about a dozen of them.
If it were me as SG I would say no without being a Mercere. Anyone could be taught Tethered Magic but only Mercere Mutants would get Mutantum magic virtue.
I think the real reason is that the authors have not found them very interesting or compelling. I'm mainly doing one because I want to have my MM to have a direct House tradition, and do not have any interest in Mercurian Magic or Cult of Heroes.
Of the five or six Magi Mercere we've seen (two in Provence, two in Transylvania, one in Rhine, and I'll have to check my roster to see if there's another), none are explicitly Mutants. I suppose there are only two or three, mostly in the Roman Tribunal.
I seriously doubt that.
I should have looked in Apprentices to start with. Thanks.
Based on the Apprentices rules, my MM is unlikely to have learned Mutantum Magic to begin with - so I think I will redesign him, probably ejecting Mutantum Magic entirely.
I'm not understanding what you mean by "based on Apprentices rules." Virtues can be taught, or they can be inherited. So, he could be a mutantes apprenticed to someone who isn't a Mutantes, and have it manifest later. My magical Mercere is like this, his Mutantum magic, even as a full magus hasn't manifested. Once it does, he will be considered a legitimate Magical Mercere.
I might be able to scrape through.
Referring to Apprentices, p. 40-42.
Enrico de Merceri was born with the Mythical Blood virtue, which presented / was drawn out at a young age. This increases his next Hermetic Virtue difficulty by +9, making gaining a minor Hermetic virtue 24 and a major 30.
So, Mutantes Magic for Enrico is Target 24; gaining Tamed Magic is then Target 33.
Enrico's Hermetic flaws are Hermetic patron, which I don't think should give any mechanical bonus (or penalty) for learning magical virtues, and two sets of Deleterious Circumstance, -6, for Target 18 for Mutantes Magic, then Target 27 for Tamed Magic.
If I had an excellent Magus Mercere teacher, and if his Communication was 3 and Teaching is 7 (+3+6 intrinsic bonuses) that's a total of Source 19. (It seems unlikely there's a Magus Mutant Mercere who also has great teaching virtues.)
Source 19 vs Target 18, and Enrico could learn Mutantes Magic.
Learning Tamed Magic is now (21 + Mythic Blood 9 + Mutantes Magic 3 -Deleterious Circumstances twice -6) 27. Include a major flaw (-9) and it's down to 18.
That's if I can find a Teacher Source Quality 19, and I am willing to take a new major Hermetic flaw related to or hinging on Tamed Magic. The first seems unlikely, as does the second.
The teacher is an SG issue, and I will have to discuss with my troupe.
Interesting - my design approach was opposite of this. I took Mythic Blood to overcome the Deleterious Circumstances flaws, and Mutantes Magic hinged off the combination of 'MMs use props' and 'Mutants transfer spells to props.'
Inherited Virtues...
If the character should be Mutantes (in order to later be taught Tamed Magic) then they should have Mutantem Magic as an Inherited virtue. IMO, Inherited virtues that have not yet manifested in play do not count in the total of Hermetic Virtues earned.
But, you are encountering precisely the problem that you should encounter when trying to gain more than one Major Hermetic Virtue... that you need to pass on Hermetic Flaws, too.