Must wizards pay for their 'per level' spells?

Femerus the Gnecro · Jul 24, 2002

This question came up with my and my DM recently, and he rule 0'ed it so that wizards have to spend time and money to scribe their 'gained by leveling up' spells into their spellbooks, the same as if the new spells were on scrolls.

Totally disregarding his ruling, what do the rules say?

The PHB intimates that the player must pay the normal costs, the DMG suggests reducing the costs, and the SRD says flat out that Wizards don't have to pay a bloody thing for their earned spells.

What does everyone else here do? And more importantly, what's the final official ruling on the matter?

Also, please no comments about whether my DM is 'wrong' or 'right'... it's his campaign, therefore it's his choice. I'm just curious what the official rules say.

-Femerus

Oni · Jul 24, 2002

"Materials for writing the spell (special quills, inks, and other supplies) cost 100 gp per page.
"Note that a wizard does not have to paly these cost in time or gold for the spells she gains for free at each new level. The wizard adds these to her spellbook as part of her ongoing researach." -PHB pg 155 Under Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook.

I am of the opinion that this should not be taken from wizards it is part of the balance between wizards and sorcerers. Crippling a wizards ability to gain a least some spells when they level up is on par with making them just a weaker version of a sorcerer. Wizards already have to spend a tremendous amount of money in order to be appropriately powered for their level, it is absurd to add to the burden.

Caliban · Jul 24, 2002

Femerus the Gnecro said:
Totally disregarding his ruling, what do the rules say?

-Femerus

PHB, page 155, Spells Gained at a New Level:

Wizards perform a certain amount of spell research between adventures. Each time a wizard achieves a new level, she gains two spells of her choice to add to her spellbook. The spells represent the results of her research. The two free spells must be of levels the wizard can cast. If she has chosen to specialize in a school of magic, one of the two free spells must be from the wizard's specialty school.

The spells are free.

Femerus the Gnecro · Jul 24, 2002

Thanks.

-F

GuardianLurker · Jul 24, 2002

Oni said:
I am of the opinion that this should not be taken from wizards it is part of the balance between wizards and sorcerers. Crippling a wizards ability to gain a least some spells when they level up is on par with making them just a weaker version of a sorcerer. Wizards already have to spend a tremendous amount of money in order to be appropriately powered for their level, it is absurd to add to the burden.

Having just run the spell progression numbers, I'll "hear, hear" that and add that if your GM is stingy with the spells (i.e. you aren't finding any, and can't buy any) you should scrap the wizard and switch to sorc.

BTW, I *hope* for your sake that your GM isn't charging you official prices for those spell pages...

Femerus the Gnecro · Jul 24, 2002

I'm mostly worried about the 'time' cost, i.e. spending time to copy the damn spells into the book instead of having them 'ready' for memorization as soon as the experience watershed is reached.

Even using the DMG varient, it still takes a full day per spell, which is awful to a character that's stuck in a dangerous environment.

-F

LordAO · Jul 24, 2002

Sorry to rant, but I think it is stupid that Wizards have to pay anything to scribe their spells into their spellbook. They're the only class that has to pay massive amounts of money just to be able to use its abilities. Look at Clerics, they get every spell on their entire list for free! Having a spellbook is a big enough disadvantage in the first place, so if your DM is that anal, I'd tell him where to shove it!

Femerus the Gnecro · Jul 24, 2002

got it clarified

Turns out that I was wrong... DM isn't requiring wizards to spend money on 'per level' spells, just time. So, 1 day minimum, plus 1 day per spell level ( I think that's the PHB rule).

His argument is that it's unrealistic for wizards to have new spells in their book 'out of the blue' without taking the time to scribe them in.

So, basically, when a wizard levels, they get a sudden 'whoa! I know fireball' feeling, and then have to spend the next few days scribing the new spells which they're finally completed in their head.

-F

Tewligan · Jul 24, 2002

Re: got it clarified

Femerus the Gnecro said:
His argument is that it's unrealistic for wizards to have new spells in their book 'out of the blue' without taking the time to scribe them in.

The freebie level spells represent what the wizard has been piecing together over the course of the last level, from his notes and whatnot - it's just when you level up that those notes and formulae all come together and make sense in spell form. I'm pretty sure it says this in the PHB somewhere.

Femerus the Gnecro · Jul 24, 2002

The freebie level spells represent what the wizard has been piecing together over the course of the last level, from his notes and whatnot - it's just when you level up that those notes and formulae all come together and make sense in spell form. I'm pretty sure it says this in the PHB somewhere.

Regardless, his ruling is that they still have to be scribed into the spellbook the proper way. As for the PHB rule, you're right. My dm isn't using the standard phb system, hence the thread and why I refer to it as a house rule now. Mostly I just didn't want everyone to think my DM was a moneygrubbing demon that made wizards pay money for 'per level' spells.

-F

Must wizards pay for their 'per level' spells?

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Caliban

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