In our current saga, I made a Magus, Gulfnarson, who is focused on teaching. Denied a family of his own (through the aggrivating nature of the gift) he still wants to leave a legacy behind.

Now Gulfnarson has Communication +3, Teaching (Magic Theory)3, and the Good Teacher virtue. This means he will generate a study total of 3 + 3 + 3 + 5 = 14 when teaching 3 students, 17 for 2 students, or a 20 for teaching a single student.

I have already written 4 tracti and disbursed them at the previous tribunal. They were all written on Animal. Qualities 11, 12, 12, and 12 (I got more Communication due to a CrMe Ritual during the year I was writing.)

Gulfnarson wants to make an offer at Tribunal to teach apprentices or even other Magi should they wish it. My question is, what do you think a fair price is for the season? What would your Magus pay for a season's access to source quality 20 instruction?

I have a fair number of skills including Shapeshifting. I can generate a high enough study total to teach even that supernatural ability to fairly new apprenti. Imagine if I were to instruct your apprentice for his first 3 seasons in Magic Theory....thats 60 experience right there, he has a MT of 4 with 10 exp towards 5 already. Makes him a more useful lab assistant right off the bat.

I know the ultimate decision will rest with my SG. But I am wondering where a good bargaining position wil be to start from. Eventually as word spreads I would hope that there would be some prestige attached to having me teach a given apprentice.

I think that the absolute minimum wage for any magus is two pawns of vis of an art that is useful to the magus per season. Nearly any magus with a lab can generate two pawns of vim vis in a season (and with its use in longevity rituals, aegis of the hearth, and enchanted devices every magus has a use for vim vis).

Your character is significantly more valuable than the two pawn "minimum wage". The best tractatus that can be gaind in the covenant creation system is quality 10 your instruction has a quality of twice this much for a single student.

Every saga varies but my esitimation of a fair price based only upon the rules would be six pawns of vis, a very good book, or two quality eight tractatus.

It's highly negotiable, but he's got some darn good talent. That 20 Quality is very impressive. If I were you I'd start with a season for a season. If you spend a season teaching, then they owe you a season of service. If it was Vis, I'd charge at least 3 Pawns and negotiate from there. It depends on where you're teaching also. If you were a guest at a Covenant, I'd charge 2 pawns per season of teaching, plus the use of a lab, and some priority on choice of books from the library, and the ability to have 2 seasons off per year. If others travelled to you, 3 pawns of vis per season, with no more than 2 seasons per year, unless they are willing to pay extra.

Bu tremember this is negotiable, the magi of the Order love to barter. Votes makes an excellent trade, as well as books, and especially high quality labs. He might even try bartering for a coveted position at a covenant and become a resident teacher.

I don't know about the proper price for your teaching, but I think the above prices are in the right range. The vis price seems a little high, but that would depend on your particular saga. In some vis poor sagas, that would be the entire covenant's yearly supply every semester. In a vis normal saga, that's probably going to be the magus' entire yearly supply per semester.

Your magus should probably focus on teaching Ex Misc. magi and apprentices only. Unless you have a score of 8+ in Magic Theory, no magus is going to submit to the indignity of being trained by another magus after gauntlet. That's like a Ph.D. taking classes in their field. It doesn't happen. If you want to educate yourself on something, you read a book or do it in the lab. Ex Misc probably don't have this same stigma attached to subordinating oneself under another mage, so they might be willing to do it, especially if they have a particularly poor score in something you happen to be good at. Magic Theory and Parma Magica would be two good things for your magus to specialize in, those are both Abilities that people would be willing to pay big bucks for to raise quickly.

The second problem I see with your idea of prestige attached to having been trained by you is that when a Magus gives up his apprentice to your magus for a season or three he is admitting that your magus is a better teacher than he is. Many magi have overinflated egos and won't be willing to do this, regardless of whether it's true or not.

The third problem I see is your magus' house affiliation. You haven't stated it, but unless it's Bonisagus, you're going to run into problems with magi from other houses not wanting you to taint their apprentices with your crazy ideas. You may only be able to get apprentices from the same tradition to tutor. If you've gotten the True Lineages book, you know that there are many sub-traditions in each house now, so that may also limit the number of magi who will want to expose their apprentices to your crazy philosophy.

Another possibility is that you could get all of your Arts to five and then train three apprentices of your own at once. Depending on how advanced you are in age and skill, you could pump out three of the most powerful newly gauntleted magi ever, especially if you have a good library for the others to utilize while you do the one-on-one Art sessions.

Just some thoughts.