So Aegis/Wards/Penetration.
Assuming we're doing this as per RAW and Aegis and Wards need to penetrate? And given the Muto Vim Errata, a Sun duration Wizard's Communion is necessary to work an Aegis... Meaning the lowest level effective Wizard's Communion spell for assisting in a Ritual spell is 15th level. Is that a correct understanding/set of assumptions?
Also, Re: the 350 bps, I'm presuming the text for the Aegis needs to be in that, or is it a freebie?
Gawd I hope you're hourly, but I have a feeling you're probably salaried, which kinda sucks at times like that.
Yes, yes, and yes.
The Aegis needs to come out of somebody's 350. So far, the only freebies are the Rug of Pooper Scooping and the Bridge to Eilean Chon, and the Aura on Eilean Chon.
(p.s. - changed the name of the thread to better describe what it's for. I'm sure we'll have more over-reaching OOC/Table Talk type threads before too long)
Self-created spells at start of play? Any spells off-limits? Net Grimoire spells good? At least after a review of the spell, since some are not well designed or properly built?
I can of course send my MC file, which can make reviewing the spells a bit easier.
Remembering back to my time starting Bibracte, this is about the point in time where I said to myself, "What have you gotten yourself into!?"
Yes, original spells are okay (subject to SG/troupe approval, of course). I'm going to create a thread right quick for spell creation discussion, both before and during play to give us a place to post and vet original spells.
Please, that would be helpful, since I'm making MC files for everybody anyway.
I'll do that for build points, too, since you can just copy and paste between the files, then.
You wrote Language 5 is needed to write a book. So language 4 + specialty is not good enough?
Language 4 with a specialization in Writing or some such will work.
I really dislike that, and it's not even RAW.
"5 Fluent ... This is the minimum level required to write a book.", pg 66 of the MRB.
Doesn't "When you use an Ability in a way that incorporates your specialization, you act as if your score were one level higher than it actually is" cover that? (p. 62, "Specializations")
I guess I just don't consider writing a valid specialty.
Can one have a Writing specialization at a score of 3? Not really, it doesn't gain a character/player anything. Why can one have the specialty at 4? To get your effective language score up to a 5 so you can write? Seems to be a huge shortcut.
I think to write, you have to have a minimum of 5, ignoring specialties. I might be more agreeable to Latin 4 (Hermetic terms) being on the edge of possibility for writing a book on the Arts, but I think it would also be an exercise in vanity and wouldn't be considered a quality book within the Order.
I don't have any rule clipping to back it up, but I am with JL on this. Picking a "writing" specialty is just cheap, akin to 3rd ed D&D Fighters taking a single level in Ranger. Sure, it's legal, but it's still kinda disgusting.
On the other hand, it means you can only write say one type of book. Say lab texts/hermetic texts or mundane abilities or something else. You can't write anything else.
I personally don't like this need for a 5 in latin to be able to write.
Or I should say that on top of the need for concentration, penetration, latin 4, artes liberales and finesse. you need Profession scribe and latin 5.
It is artes liberales that determines the alphabets that you have that I would say and language 4 which is fluent (just not native level) should be enough.
Well, it is a 25 XP sink, to be sure.
Latin 5 to write is the only reason why players get to that level of Latin. However, completely viable characters can be created who never have any intention of writing a book.
If we're getting down to correspondence and writing letters, well, again, is your correspondent with a score of 5 in Latin going to be happy tryint to decipher your atrocious writing? I can't see such a correspondence lasting very long.
Sinmore stopped answering Scintilla's letters for this reason 
Were those as painful to write as they were to read?
Okay, Language: 5 is in the house rules post, now.
Absolutely.
Wait...I just caught this, what?
When you stopped answering her letters, I figured it was because you didn't want to encourage me to continue my in-character language-pollution 
Oh...I might not have even realized they were to Sinmore... 