Might be less than interesting yes, but its a good idea, since it gives very little reward, its one alternative for someone short on Vis AND short on books.
Covenant boosting works, but its not the FREE boost that some thinks when they read it. Takes alot of time and effort still.
But its effective, and the reason why there should be books at higher level/quality than RAW states. Its really not very hard at all to get above that limit.
Writing books limited to those with the correct virtue? Very bad idea me thinks. Books isnt the problem.
And i guess you would go at the sight of the additional virtues we allow.
I really will have to post those someday.
You might be right but i certainly havent read it. Or anyone else here.
Though in a way it would almost be a pity. Its rather fun seeing someone to have his character both trying to pay the upkeep(in regular money) and maintain the labs while renting them out(for Vis) and still keep them as "his own" with 6 extra labs...
Yes, you may only have one Focus per lab. Each additional Greater Feature thus adds 3 to Size and therefore subtracts 3 from Safety. So, a lab with 5 Greater Features and a +25 Specialisation bonus is pretty much completely infeasible (and grossly overpowered, IMHO).
Yup, after previous post i reread it, twice, and ALMOST missed it again... Lol...
Darn, at least FIVE persons have read it, and we all missed that part.
Its because its placed under the section where sample Features is given, you tend to skip past the first text as it looks to just be a "some labs have noteworthy or unique..., here are some possible sample features"...
Id say it should be noted under the "Focus" flaw itself. Thats where people look after all.
Lol yes... But its in the current story, so it stays there until the end. Grossly overpowered and all!
Thats not a huge issue, just make sure you keep a few intelligent "Servants" around. And keep improving refinement as well.
The eventual size problem might be worse i think.
In the preamble to the Virtues and Flaws section, it says that most Virtues and Flaws can only be taken once, with the few exceptions being asterisked in the list. Greater/Lesser Feature is asterisked, whereas Greater/Lesser Focus is not...
True that should have been enough...
But still, at least 5 of us managed to miss it...
Still i have checked myself and it seems i can put together a pretty decent specialised lab anyways.
+0 Upkeep(+3 if lacking highly skilled craftsmen), +13 to Specialisation, +2 General Quality, +2 Health, +4 Safety, Size 2, Refinement 2. Meaning you can get a total of +15 for one specialisation area. Add a lab assistant and maybe a familiar to that and we get a nice bonus to work with still.
I think that is still pretty nice to have as an extra lab setup for any covenant. Specialised in oh maybe Creo/Familiar/Experimentation/Longevity Ritual... Vis Study?
Oh and the above actually even manage to get a POSITIVE general quality value. Im not actually sure i like that, was more fun to have a -10 to general quality with +35 in a specialisation.
Well, my favourite house rule was always studying from manifestations of magical power. These are in Covenants now, but I just think the idea of migratory magi moving to places where they know Mystical Things are going to happen so that they can contemplate them for a season is a fun idea. You can harvest these manifestations for vis, sure, but do you really want to?
at the sight of the additional virtues we allow. 
And keep improving refinement as well.
