There's something a little disgenuous about this magus... He has:
Pre +3
Int +3
Puissant Verditius Lore
Affinity Verditius Lore
(Probably improved characteristics, too? to pump either the Pre or the Int?)
and...
Verditius Lore (self inititiation) 6
With that sort of Verditius Lore, I'm going to presuppose Skilled Parens, I think that's a requirement...
He'd have spent 70 points of his apprenticeship on Verditius Lore...assuming a 180 abilities, 120 Arts split on his apprenticeship experience, that leaves him with a Magic Theory of 3(30), Latin of 4 (50), Artes Liberales of 1 (5), Parma of 1 (5), probably a Finesse of 2 (15), and one other skill at 1 (5).
He's got no craft-- maybe, maybe you give him three years pre-apprenticeship experience in Craft(Your Choice), and throw the other 5xp from apprenticeship in to give him a Craft(YC) of 4.
His Arts are going to be something like: 5 in each of the techniques, and 5 in three forms. If I had to guess, I'd imagine Co, Te, Vi...
I'm sure you can create a character that fills these shoes quite nicely, but this guy seems more like a mystagogue in training. I don't think he'd be too much fun out in the field, maybe in social situations, but he doesn't have the skillset to be too effective in that role. His arts are pretty low to be very good at generating much in the way of items-- even if he lowers a couple of his arts to bump others a few points.
What does this guy do other than create scripts for initiating virtues? And if all he does is create initiation scripts, we've failed the exercise...
I dunno you spend an evening doing something to find that someone has beaten you to the punch, although I prefer my initiation scripts and single tracked progression.
... choice of virtues, flaws, and pretty much everything else to be honest.
I've passed the link around the troupe and basically it's not how we see a Terrae Magus it also doesn't feel so much a mystery cult as a flaw-athon. The Terrae Magi are made less a group of terrifying Hoplite-Quaesitors and more half-crippled, barefooted, magi barely able to cast a spell unless there's a convenient pebble to hand.
However there are some strong ideas, and we like Petra as the site of the cult (because we like Petra). Having the spells already designed is useful. I shall borrow what little I can and leave the rest.
No reason why yours couldn't be an additional path of his, if you really like it-- they may just be alternate scripts, or older ones found within tombs at Petra.
Well, he is a bit specialized, isn't he. But with one stat @ -3 he doesn't need Improved Characteristics: probably Strength. Then he's spent 3 minor virtues: Skilled Parens, Affinity and Puissance with Verditius Lore. With the understanding that the character is meant to show the power-bloating danger of repeated unchecked self-initiation, he'll fill up the rest of his Virtues with the stuff he can't get from his initiations: Educated, Privileged Upbringing, that sort of thing to give him a stronger leg-up. Then either the Mythic Blood virtue or Confraternity Member flaw to gain access to Minor Magical Focus (making stuff). The last few virtues can be Affinities in Craft and/or Magic Theory, since he'll be spending starting XP on them and wants to be as efficient as possible, but this is hardly necessary.
With the additional XP he can probably get his Lab Totals for enchanting into the high 50s or higher, so he's hardly a pushover.
Then he merrily makes Scripts for all the stuff he missed: Puissant Craft, Puissant Magic Theory, Puissant Philosophiae (for Verditius Rune use, so its appropriate to the Cult), Puissant Artes Liberales (for same), Cautious Sorcerer (for lab work), Inventive Genius... the list of applicable Minor Virtues is pretty long. Now admittedly we're talking about a specialized mystagogue that's spent something like five+ years creating Scripts, but the effect on the Order as a whole would be dramatic once the Scripts were made: whatever Cult he was part of would explode in power, since presumably the Scripts are arranged in an appropriate order.
1st Initiation includes a Major Flaw (something easy to deal with for the cult, like a specialized version of the Pious major flaw), then the next 2 or 3 are gravy since they're for Minor Virtues, and then you just need another Major Flaw tossed in (perhaps Driven). Such an arrangement would let even low Pre and Cult Lore individuals initiate others. The Cult can basically have a shopping list of Minor Virtues and the main limiting factor is the SG saying 'no' rather than any other mechanical reason.
The point I'm getting at with this is that as-written, the self-initiation rules are extremely lenient. This character doesn't need to be so specialized (he could just start off as you pointed out: weak but still playable, with multiple other neato Virtues that make him just as "effective in the field" as a standard Jerbiton), but the point remains.
With Breakthroughs being such a massive pain in the rear to pull off (or at least, much moreso than self-initiation), why was self-initiation made so comparatively easy?
Ok, but we're talking about experimenting for each one of these, which means there's a chance things are going to go terribly wrong... For Verditius, the initial design is out there, because a Lore score of 5+ is considered "a master..." and that seems misplaced for someone right out of gauntlet. Not only that, but repeatedly self-initiating for Verditius is going to give a bad reputation to the character within the cult, a reputation that might color his scripts. By starting off initiated, he'll also need the Cabal Legacy Flaw... so he has a questionable reputation within the Order, then gains a bad reputation with his cult, and was never really liked by mundanes... sounds like a blast at Tribunal.
Ok... this circumvents the intent of the Mysteries, though. They're meant to drive stories, to further the saga... even in generating all those scripts, this mythical cult prodigy is going to have to complete the processes he's inventing-- which means more stories. The difference in "ease" of generation for these virtues versus Breakthroughs is that the Mystery Cultist is that you're going to be pushed to complete story arcs that will likely be just as challenging.
"Power has its price" is specifically mentioned as a maxim of the mysteries. When you start talking about flaws that aren't really that much of a flaw-- the specialized pious, or the driven flaw (two that seem particularly redundant given the focus of the character) -- you're not really paying a price. That's an aspect that's being overlooked; I think most SGs would require the flaws actually force a shift in the character, rather than accentuating the personality that's already been developed. Combine that with the fact that your cultist is going to experiment to generate new scripts, and some of those experiments will fail, and the character's going to end up with a variety of take-home-prize flaws that he never counted on...assuming he survives at all, as he's focusing on these scripts, rather than improving his Arts and it's those Arts that he will likely need to rely upon to complete the process of experimentation.
You're also going to grab a lot of focus at the table, as the script creation stories require more and more time. Maybe everyone else finds that acceptable, maybe the SG finds a method to work your quests into the greater plotline so that the rest of the arc doesn't suffer, maybe it doesn't matter as much for your saga... I know it would in ours.
Yes, abstracting the process is given as an option, but honestly, I think it's probably the least attractive choice amongst the methods provided.
So overall, yes. You're right. The self-initiation rules are more lenient than the Original Research/Breakthrough rules presented, but I think that's because the Mystery Cult system isn't presented as a method to garner all the virtues you can initiate at the least cost of counterbalancing flaws. It's meant to be another engine for driving stories while fleshing out an organization that should have some prominence in the bigger picture of the saga. Treating it as a quick-fire, mostly-cost-free process for kicking out the number of virtues on a character just isn't using it appropriately in my opinion.
It's a pretty specific take on Terrae-magi and I was riffing off the basic mechanics presented in HoH:MC rather than the full breadth and scope of TMRE. I didn't have all the Virtues from TMRE, many of which would be more applicable eg. Divination/Augury etc. The piece was written just after the folding of Hermes Portal and was originally intended to make it into the last issue but this did not eventuate. Niall offered it a home and I readily accepted.
I based the initiations on Timothy's Criamon progression as this was the clearest example of the Mystery mechanics. You've correctly surmised that it's intended to basically limit the higher ranked cultists to a single Terrae-linked site as a sort of "Guardian of Nature" style - I specifically had Petra in mind, but most of the Petra material didn't make the cut.
If I had time now I have TMRE and HoH:S I'd probably do things differently to be honest - I'd reenvisage the paths in the article more as Forest paths like in GotF but distinct to Petra and probably focus the cult more on theurgical practices and divination.
I suspect all this would still be a far cry from your Terrae-magi hoplites!
Mind you, one of Andrew's new Flambeau schools - the School of Villano, allows you to construct a quintessential Terrae-magi hoplite. If you haven't already, I'd suggest checking this out as the spells complement the ones I designed for the article (I'd asked Andrew if I could repost them but he politely declined and I discovered later he must have been held by NDA when HoH:S came out). One of the Petroboline magi in my article (the Perdo focused one) left to join Flambeau and drifted out of the cult, so I think this makes a lot of sense thematically.
I'd suspect many of the more martial Terra-magi would have drifted out of Guernicus since the founding and taken up with House Flambeau - they both share a strong Mercurian background and as a Societas, House Flambeau readily accepts members from other Houses that can prove their worth. The article harkens back to a time when House Guernicus was still forming and would have had a much different mix than it has in the contemporary Order.
I'm glad you found some of it useful, even if the barefoot hermit pebble-fondler image isn't quite what you expected...
Please contact me by private message with any comments or suggestions as this is not really the thread's topic - I'd be keen to hear your take on things. I have heaps of background material on Petra that I was considering forming into a Sub Rosa article at some stage.
And then also I think it's interesting to note how this thread first spiralled away from the subject at hand and then suddenly turned around and came full circle back to the question of the cherry pickings and how to utilise Mysteries in a saga!
