I have run games where over 50% of the covenant was gently gifted, not due to any design but simply because enough players felt it was worth the investment of virtues not to have to deal with the social penalty of the gift- especially in terms of how it affected loyalty of new grogs. The exact size of the order is ambiguous, and there is certainly no distribution curve for various virtue, so I would thank you not to tell other players which virtues they should or should not take. Incidentally your "promise" of a non-gentle in character confrontation based solely on a concept write up has intimidated another player into withdrawing from the game. I'm hoping they can be persuaded to stick with the game, but since I do not determine what you will do with your characters that leaves me a bit of a situation...
normally this is something I would address privately, but give the way this situation has developed I want to make several of the points here (especially the fact that 'unusual' distributions of virtues are perfectly fine) fully public.
Welcome ! 
All your ideas are cool.
My grogs are just regulars fighters
My magus is also creo/rego but focused on ritual (and vim) and not craft so no duplicate on my side. I still have to work on his personality and how to play him. Did not really think beyond the character sheet. 
If we combine the numbers given in the three Houses of Hermes books, we find that, in 1220, the Order has 114 Flambeau, 102 Jerbiton, 96 Tytalus, 81 Bonisagi, 98 Guernicus, 92 Tremere, 79 Bjornaer, 94 Criamon, 68 Merinita, and 74 Verditius.
Mercere has no numbers at all and Ex Miscellanea is "estimated at 180." If we assume that Mercere is about as big as the others in terms of magi and has about one non-Gifted Redcap per 5 Gifted Magi, then we have a Mercere population of about 109.
So, the total population of the Order would be around 1187, perhaps as low as 1150 or as high as 1215.
You're free to change it, of course, but since I had seen no indication that you had done so, I assumed that the Order was pretty much as described in the various game books.
All I said was that the Gentle Gift was supposedly very rare and that, if that were the case, multiple Gently Gifted magi in the same covenant might be a notable feature, something that other covenants would see and have something to say about. Maybe they would have wanted us to be their liaisons or something.
I never said, "Don't take the Gentle Gift," nor, "I would rather you did not take the Gentle Gift," nor even "We definitely shouldn't have more than one Gently Gifted magus."
Domazhir Slipoi said, and I quote, "It is possible that he may make the odd item for the covenant, but to WORK for a living!? The idea is abhorrent in the extreme."
And I said that his character seemed like he was going to be the sort to sponge off of everyone else while he luxuriated. Since a lot of covenant property is communal, such an attitude would naturally breed resentment over time. If indeed his character did act that way, and if "Please stop doing that." didn't get him to stop loafing at the expense of everyone else, then either the rest of the group would exclude him from community resources, someone would get mad at him about it, the rest of the magi would start cordoning things off as their private property, or some combination of those things.
I never said that such a thing would necessarily be bad, from my point of view as a player. It could make for a good story. Maybe his character would have turned his act around once he realized he was hurting other people. Maybe dividing covenant property into private property would be the best solution. I can't say for sure.
It is also possible that he didn't intend to portray his potential character as a serial lounge potato. (Or turnip, I suppose, since potatoes weren't brought to Europe until the 1500s.)
But the fact remains that he did say that his character hated the idea of working for a living, and the further fact remains that, in communal situations, such people are naturally loathed by the rest of the group. (Unless, of course, they can convince everyone else that what they do is somehow beneficial to the group, but given that magi are almost universally very intelligent and fully capable of literally seeing through mystical charlatanism, and further given that none of us have armies, I don't think that's a very likely outcome.)
The number of people in the order is at best an estimate given communications difficulties, long lasting twilights, etc. Regardless of accuracy your approach to essentially instructing him on his character design was inappropriate. I asked previously if anyone else wanted to be a storyteller and you declined, so please stop making pronouncements of fact about the world and stop bullying other players.
What attitude would be more helpful, then?
Without knowing exactly what it is that I am doing wrong, I can't change anything. "Stop bullying other players" doesn't tell me anything, because I am not trying to bully anyone. If other players feel intimidated by my forthrightness, then I'm willing to do things differently, but I can't change if I don't know what to change, since I'm not doing it on purpose.
I express my concerns up-front and attempt to resolve issues I think may potentially arise using reason and facts, rather than emotion or passive aggression, before those issues actually come to exist. It isn't my fault if other think that's a "bad attitude," because I am not responsible for other peoples' actions.
Rather than explaining to me why he felt offended or hurt and asking me to do things differently so that we could play together amicably, he simply quit because "he has no time for my attitude." What does that mean, "my attitude?"
Is it bullying to have a mutual dialogue, respecting the other party's intelligence and not treating them like a fragile doll who could be hurt by anything they might dislike? Or is it bullying to huff and storm out, then send a letter to the referee because they have more power than the other person and will get you what you want if you pretend to be hurt and evoke their sympathy?
I can tell you that the latter is a textbook case of bullying. Maybe the former is bullying also, and if it is, then I'm sorry I hurt him. That being said, I can't do anything differently in the future without specific instructions.
For example, I can certainly stop citing things from the various game books. I will say, on the other hand, that, unless I'm told differently, then I assume that we're playing in the setting depicted in those books where, for example, the Order is very small, the Gift very rare, and the Gentle Gift even more rare than that. If there's a different setting in your head, okay, that's fine with me. I would very much appreciate it if you would make a thread detailing how your Ars Magica is different from the published one, so that I stop saying things that offend people and make me look like the asshole I am not trying to be.
I don't have time to raise you. I had a daughter who took the same approach of wanting to argue everything because she couldn't see the possibility she might be mistaken, it took her 7 years to grow out of it and I'm no going to wait that long for you to grow up. You are apparently unable to act like a civilized adult, you have had attitude issues with both myself and another player, and I only foresee problems with your continued participation, regardless of what light you choose to try and paint your actions in. The_Hat is no longer a welcome player in this game. Goodbye.
FYI for those remaining- Europe in 1000 AD had a rough population of 38.5 million people. 1215 mages in the order would be .00032% of the population or one in 31,687 people. to me this is absurdly low, so I assume these counts reflect the records of the order, not reality.
Greetings (again) Gentlefolk,
I offer my apologies for the Sturm und Drang occasioned by my interaction with The_Hat. It is my hope that you are all willing to develop this saga with me. If that is not the case, please let me or Silveroak know, and I will willing depart, with no hard feeling. This activity only works if it works for all, and I would not be the one to spoil it for any of you.
Regards
Domazhir
For the sake of clarity (given recent posts!), Ilia was quite literally raised by wolves, and is a member of House Tytalus. While she understands the meaning of the word aesthetics, she doesn't really 'get' the concept, and the idea of wanting to live a good life is completely opposite to her conflict-focussed outlook. To me, this sounds like a great chance for some minor in-character bickering, and perhaps both characters trying to educate the other about their viewpoints, rather than any genuine conflict.
That sounds fine to me. I suspect the average Tytalus feels sorry for the average Jerbiton, and the converse is also likely. Individual character's views may vary widely. Who can say what influence each may exert on the other? A slightly wolfish Jerbiton? A wolfish Tytalus who likes her steak chopped finely and mixed with herbs? Only time can tell. I look forward to the first feast held at the covenant. Who needs Mongols to live in interesting times?
Don't go! Let's all be friends! Anyway some random notes on Order size:
Cannon its around 1000ish. However, between random mystery cults granting immortality, people hiding deaths to keep proxy voting, Twilights, magi disappearing to do God knows what, magi adding people but not keeping good records, and what have you, its a fuzzy number.
Random note on virtues: There is no given natural distribution of virtues. Furthermore not all gifted people are sent to the Order, so selective apprenticing will change that further. Then we have supernatural virtues/abilities being transformed into Hermetic Virtues, and teaching of Hermetic Virtues.There could even be a gentle gifted House Misc tradition! Finally we have mystery cults. Multiple Gentle Gifted magi is probably a bit unusual, but its nothing major. I wouldn't worry about it.
It would mean the Order has 1 in 30 Gifted people, IIRC the Gift distribution correctly. Actually less since Magi live so much longer. It does seem fairly low to me.
Final note: We should probably figure out distribution of covenant resources when we write up the charter. And I doubt we will have very many non-contributing magi to important missions for the covenant. Really, it would just end up as boring for the player if we did! And then what else is there to really do? I suppose we could have seasons of service, but other than the Aegis maintenance there shouldn't be anything we really need done.
P.S. Please no one take offense! If I said something you think is wrong or stupid it probably is. 
As for me, I know little of Mythic Europe (this is my first ArM game!), and am generally pretty easy-going, so you get a welcome from me.
Thanks Silveroak, Exureris, KathD, Lamech and Asilano.
I look forward to playing with you all. Here be interesting characters in an interesting situation. Whether the characters are a representative set of all magi/mundanes in Mythic Europe seems (to me) to be of lesser import than each of us creating characters that we will enjoy playing and together telling interesting and enlivening stories.
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I have now discovered the Character Creation thread, so I'll move that discussion there.
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Not wishing to take over (I am a VERY poor SG - much too linear and not nearly knowledgeable enough):
- Do we wish to try to recruit to replace Captain Ginger? Someone (I'd be prepared to do it) could edit Ginger to be a grog, thus removing that need, and maintaining the continuity.
- Likewise for Maia's replacement, although I could easily move Osred back to that trope.
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It is my hope that I offend none and provide entertainment (at least) for some.
Reposting this in its proper place:
Out of interest, I'm not sure I follow the written text of Chaotic magic: "If you fall short of or exceed the target [level] by more than one level, the spell still works..." - surely I can't mean the spell works if I fall short? Also, how does it work with non-fatiguing spont magic, where there's no roll?
When you cast a spontaneous spell- so if you fall short or go over you cast a spell, just not quite the spell you intended.
You get a different spell if you fall short. Not the spell you intended. If the story guide is really nice, he might even let it be around the level you got, and of the same technique and form!
So an example: You are trying to cast a spell to make light for the night. CrIg-10. But you get a 7. The storyguide decides the result. He could make the spell
I hate my players-CrIg-5
R: Per D: Diam T:Ind
The maga sets herself on fire and takes +5 damage each round for a diam.
Now with non-fatiguing spontaneous magic you can't fall short or exceed it so you are fine. I also note the flaw "weak magic" which makes fatiguing spontaneous impossible is the same level of flaw as chaotic magic. So I wouldn't hold it against the story-guide who makes chaotic magic almost as bad.
Domazhir- I would suggest making your grogs and companion first, as these will be easier to write into the game...
Silveroak,
Can you wait until Friday? My energy and creative levels are very low at present. I can post unfinished versions of Osred and Phylophroses if that would be helpful? There are still some base concepts to be ironed out for both (mostly in flaws IIRC), but the stats and abilities are unlikely to change (I think). I haven't begun creating either of the grogs yet.
As to why P is wandering about this area? Challenge accepted! I have a plan. Not necessarily one to which you could pin a tail and call it a mustelid, but a plan nonetheless.
Domazhir
It occurs to me that Abigail could improvise a spell along the lines of rego craft magic to pick all the berries in a voice range with a level of 15. (REHE, base 3, range voice, target group, duration moment) and only requiring a finesse roll of 3+...