Rituals are tough for Mastery because many don't apply. However, if it's a ward (like Aegis of the Hearth), then Penetration is always good, since Wards have to penetrate to affect the target. Depending on the situation, Imperturbable Casting (HoH:S p.33) which adds Mastery score to Concentration checks) may be useful. If we make a house rule to use the Mastery abilities from the House Mercere chapter of HoH:TL, then "Learn from Mistakes" (get 5xp to Mastery if the spell is botched or fails by exactly 1 point) and "Stalwart Casting" (lose normal fatigue instead of long-term fatigue, and only suffer half as much fatigue, rounded up).
I only spent 1 season on enchanting the bond. Gaining the familiar is an "adventure" so you could get XP in other areas. So 1 season to bond and one season per strengthening the bond. 1 season per teaching session.
On one hand, players want the XP, on the other hand they want a familiar. A familiar, in many ways, is it's own reward.
Since I didn't make an explicit ruling on this, it's fine to take 10 XP in the season you found your familiar.
If we want to learn a spell not listed, do we need to imply put in xp or do we need to put in seasons of research? For example, if my apprentice became pregnant and I wanted to have a spell "Love's labor's eased" base +5, range touch, target individual, duration moon (so he doesn't have to worry about the actual delivery date) for level 25, do I simply place 25 'xp' into the spell, or should I need to spend a season in the lab inventing it? Though in this particular example I'm better off with the lab, since I get a level 25 spell In exchange for 10 xp... I'd still like to ask about the general guidelines on these issues.
Also is it okay to assume an apprentice with Int of 2?
Well, where are you pulling base 5 from? The Magi of Hermes spell that it sounds like is Base 15, and so a R:T D:Sun version is 30th level.
But, any spell, whether you invent it or not needs to be purchased with XP. The only exception I had contemplated was the stat boosting ritual spells you had mentioned once before.
artes and academe lists giving a +6 to childbearing as a level 5 effect.
Ahh, OK. I don't use A&A very much.
I wonder why MoH didn't use that guideline, it was published later. Probably a different author and products were in the pipeline or something.
Yeah, that's fine.
Spell Mastery abilities that are useful for rituals is tough, but let's not forget that the other benefits of spell mastery, increasing the CS and reducing the number of botch dice. Rituals are always cast with a chance of botch.
The spell mastery abilities listed as belonging to the Cult of Mercury, with the exception of Ceremonial Casting are still locked up, and so the only way to get these is to be from House Mercere or part of the Cult of Mercury. Doctorcomics once compared the Cult of Mercury to the Masonic Order of the Order of Hermes. Anyone can join, they have some general guidelines for membership (Mercurian Charactes insert on page 17 of HoH:Societates), but sharing what is learned as part of that Cult is unwise. Spending 50 xp on spell mastery abilities is enough if you don't have any preferred virtues.
Sorry for the slow update this weekend. I have a friend in town and right now I can't even open the Fabarica thread at my office. Right now the main thing I'm looking at is the invention he made for the 2nd Contest he's in.
It's still journeyman level. I was thinking of an object that helps with teaching (could be one of the reasons he was approached to join the school). The thing I had in mind would be similar to a holographic projector as a teaching aid, translating the users words, maybe even thoughts, into images and sounds. Any ideas on an item? He has about 5 seasons to do it at this point in his development.
For familiars, what power level should they be at? For Ancel's, using the Realms of Power: Magic rules, I statted the owl as grog-level, Summer experience (i.e. Magic Might of 5 - Size, 360 xp for abilities). I've noticed other levels for other familiars. Is my familiar under-powered?
I'm having some writer's block. I've written (crap) some stuff that I want all the players to know about, but that should be more or less compartmentalized from their characters. I'm trying to make it a bit less craptacular. I had been putting off doing a detailed evaluation of the characters pending completing this piece. So, I'm going to switch the order of my work around and start doing the in-depth evaluation of the characters. I'll probably couple that with a short little vignette of each character with Elizabeth. Expect that to happen sometime toward the middle of the week.
Just wanted to note about our various characters' ages. It looks like 3 of us were born around the same time (Fabrica 1200 AD, Ancel 1204, Swanahols 1205), Charles a bit later (1218 AD), and two quite a bit earlier (Fiona 1170 AD, Clement 1183 AD). This is all based on character sheets as of this posting.
The first person who calls Fiona "Grandma" gets turned into a pig. 
Without making an Order of Hermes Lore roll, it'd be hard to tell a magus' real age given that apparent age seems to be all in the late 30's. 
Clement is a bit older. His birth year would be 1172. His gauntlet was 1197 as per his story.
I've kicked off a bit of a prelude thread, it will have the vignette of Elizabeth introducing herself to all of the teachers, explaining how she came to know of them. Ancel and Clement are probably the easiest, since their Houses are part of the school. Fabrica's item to win the contest probably gives her something of a connection to build from (originally wrote ace in the whole, sometimes I have no idea what I'm smoking when I write).
Kaltheus is probably known to the House if he tried to get his children apprenticed to trustworthy Bonisagi. Ra'am was probably one of the first ones he asked, given his own issue with Elizabeth and Panacea,and it's not exactly a secret. Ra'am would have declined, regrettably, but the two could have maintained a correspondence relationship.
But I could use some help with Fiona. Although it becomes much easier of Korvin exists, and is at Bibracte and Panacea is his apprentice. Some of that is up to jebrick.
Ealesaid and Swanahols aren't far enough along, and I need to speak to Doctorcomics. I know he's been busy for the last couple of weeks, but I think I can find out where he's at pretty soon.
Feel free to use Korvin.
Fiona is approaching the century mark, and starting to feel her age, emotionally and mentally. She's had to bury too many people over the years, and she's realizing that she's sleeping with the children and grandchildren of people that she'd slept with before. With people like Korvin and Celestina (two of her favorites), and other magi, it's not so bad, because they've had their Longevity Rituals, so they won't be dying of old age any time soon. But she's Gauntleted two apprentices, she's a good teacher (I think her current single-student SQ is Com 2 + Teaching 4 + Auto-bonus 3 + Good Teacher 5 + Single student 6 = 20). And yet, she still have the "Hedge Wizard" flaw to overcome. Perhaps if she were in the vanguard of this new teaching style...plus, greener pastures (so to speak).
... must...bite...tongue.
I almost added... because Fiona will.
Have to answer your question here JL. Fabrica is a Rhine Magus, I had him staying at Fengheld, it's an open enough Covenant that might like to see the stranglehold of Durenmat loosened up by the opening of a school.