Awesome!
Post your characters in the main thread and we are good to go afaik
If they have a Might Score, then they gain XP according to the method outlined in RoP-Magic. They don't have to be beasts of virtue, but I don't think that matters one way or another. I do believe they should have Magic Might.
I propose this as a House Rule. The advancement guidelines in RoP-Magic actually contradict the rules for Familiars in the core RAW. My HR idea is that a Familiar can learn at the normal rate, but only when it involes their magus (being taught by him, reading her book, adventuring at their side, etc). Independant study is otherwise restricted.
To be a familiar, it must be a magical creature (magical might). Most animals that have might are beasts of virtue of some sort but they don't have to be. You can have ghost familiars or elemental familiars too.
After I posted my message, I read the Familiars/Magic thread on the main board, and I'm inclined just to go with the old rules--partly because they're simply more fun, partly because they give magi more of a reason to have a familiar, and partly because I've already advanced the only familiar in the saga by several years using the old rules. 
Scott
A lot of magical animals are transformed animals, not beasts of virtue, and it's a bit hard to believe, given that there's only typically one beast of virtue in any given wilderness area, that every magus looking will find a beast of virtue suitable to his own magic.
Does it actually say anywhere that familiars have to have Might? I don't recall that.
Scott
I don't recal that either, but it makes sense. Otherwise you can have a Bond Level of zero or even negative.
Yeah, go ahead and do it that way, but with the caveat that Viola has to be involved with the study source somehow. Just presume she was, no need to recalculate anything. Either she taught him, or he gained xp while o adventure with her or from exposure along side of her.
Yes, this is true. Or a magical human also, such as an ogre. An Ogre Familiar would be an oddity for sure!
I don't think so--doesn't Might subtract from the bond level? (I don't have my main rulebook here with me on vacation).
Scott
That still invalidates 5 of Constantine's 16 seasons of advancement--I don't think he's going to the points in Area Lore (Haunted Springs) (the 16 points of Practice in Folk Ken from observing covenant-folk is another matter), but it seems strange to me that a familiar newly arrived at a covenant can't even learn his way around (Area Lore) without a season-long guided tour from his magus.
Scott
Mind you, all the learning crap might be compensated for by having Cool Powerz that the familiar comes with--I created Constantine without anything.
Scott
Bond Level equals Might + (size x 5), this is how high your Lab Total needs to be. Your full Lab Total is your Bond Score.
Don't be pendantic 
The IRS is not going to audit your character sheet. Just hand wave it.
Oh, right--but the Might doesn't actually add to your Bond Score--it just makes the minimum smaller. You still couldn't have a negative Bond Score, because a Lab Total can't normally be negative. Constantine's minimum was well under 0, for example.
Scott
Well, as we did with Viola, I want to use the same rules throughout, so we need to hash out something. Your idea might actually make good sense, and the loss of 20 points in Abilities might be worth it if creating Constantine as a magical butterfly gives him some useful Qualities or Advantages.
Scott
I also suggest you take the "No Fatigue" Quality for him, as it seems quite appropriate for a Faerie Familiar.
Oh, if it is only 20xps, then that won't have much impact. Take Arcane Lore or Improved Abilities as a Minor Quality to compensate, and you will wind up 30xps ahead.
Exactly--and I may find some Qualities in there that make him more useful as a familiar. I'd like to have some regular rules, though--the idea that the magus has to be involved is a good one, though maybe it should be limited to certain types of XP's, like Training?
Also, we need to establish whether familiars will normally be treated as grog-level or companion-level characters--the less powerful they are to start with, the less need there is to restrict their Advancement for balance. I would assume they'd be grog-level characters by default, though I could see someone creating a companion-level animal who might decide to become a magus's familiar later (actually, I've been trying to decide what kind of companion to create, and that might be a good idea for one!).
Finally, what season would a familiar be by default? Or a companion-level magic animal? Summer, probably?
Scott
Limit it to Training or Teaching by the magus, or books written by that specific magus, or exposure from assisting the magus.
As for Might, pick a number you think is appropriate. I suggest starting out with a base of 15 and continuing on as if he were a companion. For season, I would say Spring or Summer. Depends on how long he has been sentient. Summer is more workable I figure. I suggest Base 15 might and Summer season.
What about adventure XP's?
I think a grog-level character fits better--you don't need a lot of complexity for a secondary character. Mind you, for a medium-power campaign, you need a companion-level character to get base Might of 10, normally (but familiars, remember, very often are smallish).
Scott