No grandfathering or new HR's. If need be, I will change the author stats. Level and Quality are what are important, for added together equals the QP cost. I am not using the Bookbinding rules from Covenants, for that is just an extra burden to keep track of, and I know nothing about book rules in C&C/A&A/etc.
Presume our house scribes have appropriate scores to write clearly, say around 4 or 5. A 6 is not required (I think that rule is stupid, and it is an optional rule from Covenants anyway, so not worried about it).
As for the trade with Pyramids, just make up any package you want and it will be what they want. Straight QP value trade in lesser & charged items.
The deal between Fightmaster & Silveroak of inter-saga book trade is totally on them. I have nothing to do with other than simply approving that they can make a deal.
My core philosophy concerning all of this is to keep things as simple and easy and uncomplicated as possible.
Lucas is Trogdor's Mercere magus. He has two mundane scribes in his employ. Otherwise we have Nicasi the mundane librarian and Vocis's daughter Amada. They're both on the wiki, but it looks like at least one of them (Nicasi) hasn't been updated since 1230. Give me a bit to confirm they're both current.
Then making this as simple as possible, we're basically even by qp but Andorra's 9.5 pawns in the hole by the Covenants accounting Silveroak's saga uses. I say Silveroak's group can record the gain of 10 pawns to make up the discrepancy while Andorra doesn't actually spend any pawns because there is no discrepancy. Different realities, different perspectives, same deal. Silveroak?
works for me.
Looks like we don't have stats for Lucas' scribes who are hired professionals... we can assume a standard workshop total of 6 (usually ability 5 and trait of 1) unless we have a reason to very this either way... That's assuming they count towards the workshop output. Do we assume they do or do not have magic theory at 1 or higher?
Do we give them each their own workshop? Also do we want to go back and calculate improvements already made for the scribes who have been at the covenant a while? Right now I come up with the following stats:
Amada can copy 12 levels/season with standard quality
Adan can copy 16 levels/season with +1 quality
Nicasi can copy 13 levels per season with standard quality
the hired scribes can copy 11 levels per season with standard quality
Nicasi aided by a hired scribe can copy 16 levels per season with +1 quality
Adan aided by a hired scribe can copy 19 levels per season with +2 quality
If the hired scribes do not have magic theory then using them as assistants makes more sense, since the loss of 8 levels per season is from mundane texts and can be placed into magical texts. If this is the case Amada can copy 15 levels/season aided by a hired scribe, still at standard quality. Note that adan does not know Magic theory in 1234, but from the end of the winter 1235 onward will.
Of course all quantities copied can be tripled with a -1 quality. Thus if a book is split between Adan and Nicasi each aided by a hired scribe they could copy a combined 73 levels per season with +1 quality (Adan would be tripling his copying at the expense of a level of quality from +2)
While some of our scribes have complementary skills such as Illuminator, percamenarius, ink making and book binder, it would be prudent to find specialists in these areas instead of relying on scribes to manage the finishing work, which would greatly reduce their productivity.
Whether they have their own workshops depends on how much space a given workshop takes up. We have one tower of the keep assigned to the library, but it doesn't look like a very big tower. Let's not worry about improvements before 1234.
Amada's and Nicasi's base values match what I've been using, but I'm not familiar with the rules for improved quality or assistant scribes. Can you point me (and possibly Marko) in the right direction?
Maybe. Vocis is still looking to acquire high-quality mundane books on several topics (Intrigue, Leadership, Languages, etc.), so mundane copies will be useful in the short-term. I realize that we could theoretically purchase mundane summae for a relative pittance (silver rather than vis), but trading mundane books allows us to use the simple qp-for-qp exchange rate system Marko prefers, without forcing him to figure out how readily available such summae would be for straight purchase. I'm looking out for you here, Marko - take note.
How about this - for the first couple years we assign one of the mundanes as an assistant and have the other focus on copying mundane summae. After that we'll see where we stand and re-evaluate. Does that work?
What advantages will having those sort of specialists 'in house' provide? I suspect we're going to run short on space before long.
It is in City and Guild, an assistant adds half their skill, rounding up, to the effective skill of the craftsman. p. 73
It isn't so much a matter of location, and technically we could hire someone with their own shop in Barcelona- at basic skill levels it comes down to financial savings vs hiring someone in Barcelona (or elsewhere), having them available, hired or not, allows the scribes to work more effectively instead of taking every other season to bind books (also our illuminator isn't quite up to professional standards). If we recruit someone of exceptional skill then of course we have to decide whether that can also add to the quality of the books (my feeling is that since all three 'add' by normal employment in covenants that they should...)
Certainly, though there are in fact three hired scribes according to his character information. Also Adan could take an apprentice... a season of training would give the apprentice 11 xp in profession:scribe. On the other hand you risk an impressionable youth picking up Adan's unorthodox religious perspective...
Andre can copy 10 points per season - not as much as the others, but it's something. And he can copy magical texts, if necessary.
Of course, copying books is not his primary job. He can do it when needed, such as before the City of Brass adventure. But primarily he's around to serve as Lucas's assistant.
He also, if we are using the workshop rules, is below standard quality production, meaning "Shoddy items perform exactly like quality items... they are not as durable as regular goods". Not sure exactly how this would work with scribe... perhaps over time the flaws in the writing become noticeable and it gets harder to read? In covenants it means the quality is dropped by 1 because the work was not properly scribed.
[Serf's parma]
Is that the HR you discussed with JL on the forums? The one where a skilled scribe/illuminator/bookbinder could contribute more than +1 to a book's quality?
If so, for what it's worth, I tend to side with JL. Not only do I feel like this isn't very realistic (good penmanship, fine binding and pretty pictures can enhance your reading, but this only gets you so far), it also increases book keeping (with things like "Scribed +2, Illuminated +1, bookbinded +3" on every book).
If not, forget this message
[/Serf's parma]
I may have told you this before: Covenant and C&G don't mesch well, because they were written at very different times, with very different purposes in mind (rough simulation of an entire covenant's finances vs precise simulation of a single craftsman's shop). This way lies madness
Keep it simple, IMO (Yeah, this is me saying this ), stick to covenants, which is complicated enough as it is => -1 quality
I'd rather not worry about this, since it would adversely affect copies we've already made. Shortly after the 1230 restart of the saga, several magi with low Scribe scores copied some pretty spectacular summae from the library of Sigmundo.
I don't know if it is considered a house rule or not, since it is canon in C&G that anything which produces an item is a craft and the rules apply to crafts, but yes, it where scribe, illuminator, etc. can add more than +1. I had thought we had decided to allow it for scribing, but that it had not been settled for Illumination and bookbinding.
I do not have C&G and I along ago nixed the scribed/binding/illustrating rules from Covenants. Using just the core rules, the book has a Quality equal to 6 + Communication, and if a Good Teacher then a +3 bonus. Other bonuses include Resonance, Clarification, Writing at a Lower Lever, and the free +1 for a Commentary.
By the way, I just checked the Library scores and they all add up fine.
Scribing is just scribing. A higher score allows you to copy faster.
If work quality isn't going to matter then we should make the scriptoria as labs focused towards texts instead of workshops...
Elementary (major flaw), -2 General Quality, -3 upkeep,
Greater feature: podium (major virtue) +2 aesthetics, +3 texts
Greater Focus: podium (major flaw) -2 general quality, +4 texts
add greater or lesser features according to size and refinement- base size -3, -4 general quality, which doesn't affect texts, and +7 texts which means 2 extra levels/season transcription, taking up 100 square feet In the covenant and costing 0.3 lbs of silver a year per "lab". If scribes get a magic theory above 3 their labs can be refined and lesser foci added for an extra +1 aesthetics and +1 to texts- every 3 levels in texts means one more level per season.
Improving a scriptorium workshop (as opposed to lab) has no effect if we aren't using the rules from city and guild for texts.
This reminds me of the teaching hall Draganna wants to build. No real lab work, just a bonus to teaching.
I would love to incorporate your other ideas. But I do not have C&G nor do I have funds to spare. And this saga is bloated with HR's and sourcebook options as it is
Here is an idea. How about you get to add the text bonus to your Scribe or Language score for the purposes of calculating the speed at which you write/copy? Maximum bonus of +3 for this, similar to the maximum Teaching Bonus.
Eh?
And I checked again, the Quality scores seem to be right on the money. What text(s) did you see a discrepancy on?
So he effectively gets bonus skill for having high skill? Liberi de Creationé Level 20, quality 14
Bonisagus (Com +3, Good Teacher, Creo 40)
1/2 40=20, no bonus for reduced level, quality=3(com)+6+3(good teacher)=12
On the Origin of Origins
Creo Summa: Level 15, Quality 16
Author: Lissa of Criamon (Com +5, Good Teacher, Creo 32)
1/2 32=16, -1 level=+1 quality, quality 5(com)+6+3(good teacher)+1(writing down a level)=15
What if we allow craft bonuses for scribe with the following limitations:
the scribe has to know the language at 5+ and
it only applies to new texts, not copies.
So if Felicia were to narrate to Adan, who had a hired assistant working with him, the book would gain a +2 to quality, but if Felicia were to simply narrate to one of the hired scribes, and Adan copied it later, it would gain no such bonus.
Look at the Features line, which is right after the author line. The books has +1 from Minor Resonance and +1 from Clarification.
Looks like a simple math error, easily resolved.
Only if you're really that interested in pointing out our math errors. Any issues you find in the calculations of level and quality will just result in Marko or me changing the book details to match the level and quality, because the level and quality were what was used to 'purchase' the book in the first place.
), stick to covenants, which is complicated enough as it is => -1 quality