There's a term in my rules for bloodline magic -- it's called Sorcery -- and it's very rare. Most people pick up magic through some kind of devoted practice or study, and they may pass on what they know, but they don't do so through heritage.
Sorcery is different. Typically, the person who starts the Sorcery in your bloodline is someone who came in contact with a phenomenally powerful magic presence, and was changed by it forever. As a result, they and their descendants are marked by a progress of magical growth that is lifelong, rather than enhanced through study. We won't be doing that for anyone's magic in this playtest.
Ancestral Spirits magic isn't about a specific family. It is characteristically the magic of families. If a person chooses to pursue it, the way they do that is by learning about their ancestors and trying to contact the spirits of those people. When they succeed, they receive a quest from that ancestor -- either because the ancestor gave it, or because the mage asked for it. When they complete the quest, the Ancestral Spirit gives them a reward. Now, that reward might not be magical power, but it often is; could be something like a weapon or a trove of riches instead. Might just be a lesson. In fact, the spirit might decide that the quest itself was the reward. Some ancestors will only have one quest for you, others may develop several more along the way. There may even be one Ancestral Spirit who gives you quests throughout your entire adventure. These are mainly choices that I will be making. If you want a rigid path defined in the rules, this subschool is NOT for you.
General magical aptitude is very rare in human families, it's more of an Elf thing. But a "proud magical history" is less about aptitude, and more about what your family line has done to be involved in magic. Collecting artifacts, studying or fighting magical creatures, spending long hours in libraries or laboratories, all kinds of stuff like that. Really, you can pick any life goal that a non-magical person has, and slap on the word "magic" and there's something out there like that to find.
