The 1 per 10k people is the actual RAW rate, not what the Order believes. Has been since at least 3rd edition.
We were just working out the math that showed this was not common enough to support the numbers of Gifted individuals running around (between the Order, Gifted Hedgies, etc).
When considering the number of tractatus getting written, one should keep in mind that it requires more than having at least 5 in an art to write a tractatus on it. You also need at least 5 in the language used to write any books, and lots of magi have only Latin 4 - enough to read books, but not enough to write them.
Of the example magi in the core rulebook, only one of them has Latin 5 - the rest has Latin 4.
Looking through a couple of the Tribunal books, of those magi fully statted out there, less than half have Latin 5.
So most apprentices and magi straight out of the gauntlet won't be able to write a tractatus, and plenty of older magi won't be able either.
Except, a Tractatus on the arts, doesn't have to be in Latin. Sure, it being in latin would make it more widely useful, but since every magi starts with 5 in his native language, you could write one in your native language.
Part of the point here is that the allegorical texts are not codes to be memorized like the code of Trianoma. It should be straightforward for the "right" people to read while preventing the "wrong" people from even realizing there is something there to read, which is very different than passing notes within a relatively small secret society.
Does the hermetic specialisazion not apply? I always read it as 4+1if it is used on a hermetic topic. The character would strugle to write on artes liberale for example but not on the arts.
I also thought the 6th level of any language was only ever covered by the book becouse people could reach it with specializations and by no other means(hence no 7th level description).
Why wouldn't someone be able to reach level 6 in a language? Source qualities start dropping like flies after 5th level, but it can still be studied. A tractatus that helps elevate from level 4 to level 5 can just as easily help raise from level 5 to level 6. Indeed is someone is going to write a level 5 summae they have to have the language ability at 10.
That's also how we play it. Level 4 + the specialisation.
You also gain Exposure experience whenever your write a book. Might not seem like much, but 2 XP per season is still something that adds up. Especially among Magi who live for centuries.
Your skill in a language is used to determine writing speed. If you want to write a Summa, then language + Comm is how many levels you write a season. So for average people, each point of increase in language is +20% writing speed.
Copy, rather than original writing, is based solely on the Profession: Scribe skill for speed. You need to know the script the language is written in, but "a score of 3 in the language is sufficient to allow accurate copying" (AM5, p. 166).
I must confess I made my own house rules, because I was a bit annoyed by the canon ones.
For me, there is no limit on the number of tractatii a maga can write. She only need to find an interesting topic. It can be a creature, a rare effect, a regio, a strange botch that happened, a supernatural power, anything that the GM and the players can agree on. Then the GM states that to write a tractatus on that subject, the maga needs a minimum score in the art/knowledge. Everyone that already knows the topic won't be able to learn anything from that tractatus.
So, for an apprentice to write her first tractatus, she will have first to experience something rare enough to write on.
Interesting house rule, but it does add a whole new level of book keeping to a game that already has Extensive book keeping.
It also does not change that by RAW there should be many times more tractatus in existence. The number is artificially low, similar to the number of individuals with The Gift.
I suppose that you are referencing the fact that a maga has to keep track of the topics she reads about, to avoid benefits from the same topic twice. It's the same level of book keeping has having to keep track of the tractatii you read to avoid to read one twice. Only there, you note the topic, and not the title of the tractatus.
Also worth noting that there are multiple activities in artes and Acadame including translating texts which requires a language ability of 6+ That doesn't mean a specialization can't be used to reach an effective 5, but certainly there is no limit there.
It is wierd for me to think that out there is a mage with latin 10... I'm sure you are right but please quote me something from the books that hints at this mythical "language 7", I wanna read up on it!
I haven't found anything in the books that suggest a score higher than 6 in a language can be obtained - but on the other hand I haven't found anything saying it is definitely not possible. There is just no mention of higher ability scores than 6 in languages.
It is quite clear though that it is possible to reach a score of 6 in any language - without considering specializations.
I think its more that why would anyone bother getting more language 6, as its mostly an enabling skill.
There are very few things that use a high language ability, but two open ended ones are writing a Summa (speed is 'Language + Communication' levels per season) and writing in code (deciphering it is 'Intelligence + Language + die roll').
IIRC (and I might not!), there was some mention is the context of translations.
Research into Adamic can benefit from higher Language scores. Higher language scores also allow you to be more fluent in related languages that you can speak at level-(x) too, don't they?
All the more reason for it to be caped!
I think the 6th level was only ever described becouse you can have level5 and we needed to know what the specialization would do there.
The fact is that every regular ability is capped at 5 until you are either past a certain age or possess certain virtues- at least in character generation. At the same time none of them have an absolute cap at any level, it just becomes more expensive with diminishing returns. Nobody caps carpentry because it would be useful to have a really high level, and neither should that be done with languages. The fact is that erudite people do pontificate regularly and their capacity to do so is reflected in a higher language ability.