Library Discussion

Good point. It might well be prudent to have some way to destroy the book(s) in an emergency.

Scott

Probably possible to take a couple of the registers (placemarker ribbons) as arcane connections. One stored elsewhere in the covenant, the other with the quaesitors/Tenentes Occultorum. That might be an arcane connection lasting years? Alternatively, there's an apprentice somewhere who's spent a very boring two seasons.

Level 5 summae are wasted build points. A q15 tractatus grants the same exp, can be used at any level, and is also cheaper than an l5 q15 summa. Please don't waste our bps :frowning:

Yes, but a level 15 Tractatus isn't very believable, and above the limit of 11--nonetheless, even an 11 might be more generally useful than all those level 5 Summa that will be used only once by each reader, and Porita, as the covenant leader, should have more say than anyone else.

Viola, for her part, would prefer a concentration on Arts books, though she would also appreciate Artes Liberales, Philosophiae, and any Lores.

Scott

I think the relative value of the primers over tractatus is that they will be higher level - for many of them, it'll take you 1 season to get to a point where you can legally train an apprentice rather than two seasons, which potentially does make a big difference if you have lots of arts scores to raise. However, there seems to be a fairly strong current of feeling that people don't want primers, so we can drop them and replace them with Tractatus (which will be lower level - 11 max, and by no means all that common at that level). Could there, though, be a covenant in Thebes somewhere with those primers and feeling slightly offended at being told "if you're going to contribute, contribute something useful?"

Opinion seemed evenly split on the matter. I think you can add a few such books, but keep in mind that the library is for the use of visitors as well as the permanent staff.

Scott

Oh, absolutely. Portia would have no qualms about asserting that an author should be ashamed of him/herself for wasting perfectly decent vellum, simply so that they can say they authored a text. "Do you think paper grows on trees?!?!" (snerk)

...Ah, the marks our parentes leave upon us!

First, a library useally contains a lot of worthless stuff (maybe useful to others).
Secondly, primers (Lvl6Q21 or Lvl5Q15+) are useful.
Of the 15 seasons available to teach an apprentice, one is used for opening the arts, three are used to teach the spells (spells are easier to learn from a teacher), one is used for parma. MT can be taught by exposure, but the first level might be taught directly (+1 for lvl 1 , +1 for specialty). Unless AL and Latin is outsourced completely they also consume seasons. So the number of seasons aailable for teaching arts (apart from exposure) is limited.
The xp/season is 3+6 single student + com + teach 2 + spec. single student = about 12 , whereas a good primer can deliver 21 xp.
Thirdly, none of us have apprentices, but we need primers to get to lvl5 in all arts. Magi may be reluctant to ask other magi to teach them (because they might demand a tuition season in return, which halves the gain from teaching).

An apprentice can also be Trained in Magic Theory while the master is doing lab work, as long as he doesn't need the apprentice's assistance to boost the Lab Total, and that's often a higher Quality than you'd get from a book, esp. if the lab is outfitted with a Teaching specialization.

Scott

I totally agree that primers are very handy, even without apprentices. Still, a full set will suck up build points quickly. Also, I don't see those sending us as wanting to prepare us for apprentices. Wouldn't that be up to us? I expect they'll want to prepare us to do what we need to do to figure out what happened. So I would expect more tractatus and lab texts.

I did a pretty sound mathematical analysis to discover raising the quality above 15 for a level 5 Art summa is generally not useful. Almost everyone would benefit more often from the level 6 or 7 equivalent from the same author, including the poor readers. I tend to find level 6 quality 18 to be fabulous. If you're a poor reader you can still hit level 5 in a season. A good reader can hit 6 in a season. It also doesn't require as a high an Art relative to Communication to write it.

Chris

Figuring we each have about 100 points to work with, here is what I expect Tasia to bring:

Insights into Insight (Q12 Intellego tractatus)
*Domination of the Magi (Q 10 Rego tractatus)
On the Essence of Vis (Q11 Vim tractatus)

*Puzzles of Bonisagus (Q10 Magic Theory tractatus)
The Wizard's Bulwark (Q10 Parma Magica tractatus)

Bind Wound [CrCo10]
Purification of the Festering Wounds [CrCo20]
The Chirurgeon's Gentle Touch (spells wiki) [CrCo20, ritual]
The Severed Limb Made Whole [CrCo25, ritual]
The Physician's Circle (spells wiki) [CrCo45, ritual]
*Seven-League Stride [ReCo30]
*Leap of Homecoming [ReCo35]
Maintaining the Demanding Spell [ReVi50]

  • indicates that Tasia has already used the book.

How does that sound?

Chris

It's going to be less than 100, because it depends partly on donations. The magi can have some input on the nature of those donations, though, esp. Portia.

Scott

And there's a decent chance some of the ones off my list will be donated, especially the lab texts for healing, which would cut down on the numbers pretty well. I was just starting with the estimate of 100 because we were looking at nearly 700 points, so well over 100 apiece, and because I hadn't heard a benchmark to use. I just wanted to make some progress. I expect to edit it.

Chris

Salutor asked I think for each magus to have one book he would bring with him, though I think two Tractatus wold be a fair substitute for one Summa.

Scott

I'll do whatever. If I'm bringing fewer books, I'll just cut from what I wrote above. How's this look?

Insights into Insight (Q12 Intellego tractatus)
*Domination of the Magi (Q 10 Rego tractatus)

*Seven-League Stride [ReCo30]
*Leap of Homecoming [ReCo35]
Maintaining the Demanding Spell [ReVi50]

Chris

It looks useful enough for me. What else would you like to see?

Scott

The healing spells listed above could be useful. We don't seem to have much. Once we have labs Tasia can become the resident magical healer since she can master the rituals quickly.

Chris

Let me add what Viola would like to see: as I said before, she favors Arts books (all the Techniques except Perdo, and Animal, Herbam, Imaginem, and maybe Vim for Forms), and also would really like some Magic Theory books useful for someone who already has a score of 7 in MT.

Scott

How do books we've authored fit in? I spent two leftover seasons on authoring Magic Theory tractatus, and I'd hope we wouldn't have to spend bps on them!

Portia wants to see lots of tractatus on theory, and at least one or two texts on artes liberales, and philosophiae. No primers, as "...there shouldn't be any incompetent magi residing here, and vagrants can't be choosers."

If you spent seasons of work on it, it doesn't count against Build Points.

Scott