D&D 5E 2 PC Wizards Copying Each others spell books

[Immoralkickass]

Sometimes, you shouldn't do something just because you can. Have you ever wonder what's the point of having duplicate spells? Most of the time, especially for rituals, one wizard will cover all the party's needs. The 2 wizards wouldn't want to prepare the same spells anyway, too much overlap and redundancy.

There are a few exceptions though, like Counterspell. Put it simply, there are not many spells where 'more is better', unless you just want to swarm the battlefield with summons.

 

[CapnZapp]

For those who missed the strange 'debate' in the thread titled "Wizards Spells", my contention was that if two PC wizards can copy each other's spellbooks for nothing other than standard costs, with no risk of mishap or other gating mechanism, the inevitable logical conclusion (for any medium or high magic world) is that spells (copied, not cast) should be purchasable for a small commission. (BYOInk, of course).

And while that isn't game-breaking, I for one would find it disappointing, in the same way that I find magic shops disappointing. I like the excitement of finding a spell book and wondering what nuggets I can add to my own book. If I can just buy whatever spells I want that's one less 'joy' in the game.

Why are you arguing for something you find disappointing?

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[CapnZapp]

Ok so, what about a party where two characters can both use shields or maces? Should they be allowed to decide among themselves whether or no they swap them without some Gm fret going on?

Obviously.

How can this ever be in question?


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[CapnZapp]

It's not that I think wizards sharing spell books is a problem. I'm just surprised you don't see more 2 wizard parties because 2 wizards can basically double their spells known just by having another wizard PC in the party. Each wizard takes unique spells from the other wizard and then they copy each others spells whenever they get a chance.

Given that a wizards big thing is spells known, that's almost to large of a benefit to pass up IMO.

Yet you don't see dual Wizard parties that often.

Perhaps this means the ability to swap spells isn't such a huge problem after all...?

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[CapnZapp]

Really?

Imagine you're a first level Wizard, and you're chatting up a cute girl (or boy) in the tavern, and you find out that he/she is also a 1st level Wizard, and the DM says that he/she will pay you 25 gold per spell to copy some of your spells. Would you take it?

My answer: it's a trap, back slowly away.

If I'm a Wizard I should be sufficiently intelligent to reason Wizards dump Charisma. Thus the "cute" boy or girl ain't no Wizard!





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[CapnZapp]

It's fine, don't sweat it.

Wizards studying and learning new spells is their thing. DMs probably make the mistake of not letting them learn new spells enough, not the other way around. Theoretically, wizards could or should learn most of the spells by 20th level anyway, and they still can only memorize so many on any given day.

Just as a comment:

Even if you never find a spellbook the Wizard class is still balanced since you do get to learn 2 spells automatically.

Of course to reach your maximum potential you want lots more spells.

But if you can't accept having 2 X level spells, you'd better play another class - plenty of official adventures contain few or no spellbooks for you to loot.

Many monsters with wizard-like abilities aren't equipped with lootable spellbooks.

That's not an error - it's an expression of how the Wizard class design no longer is dependent on adventure authors remembering to include lootable spellbooks.

Tldr don't feel entitled to finding spellbooks as a Wizard. Treat them as a treasure, not a requirement.

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[schnee]

2 PC Wizards Copying each others spell books. Is this a thing? If so why doesn't this get done more often?

It can be at thing in campaigns with enough players, but it's rare to have two wizards.

If they pay the gold, no problem IMO.

Even then, they're ultimately limited more by concentration and number of spells known & cast per day more than anything else. There won't be much gained, really.

 

[Hussar]

Yet you don't see dual Wizard parties that often.

Perhaps this means the ability to swap spells isn't such a huge problem after all...?

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I think it was perhaps more common in earlier editions where you might have one player playing an MU and another playing an elven fighter/MU or something like that.

OTOH, in a 2 wiz party, that 2 spells/level essentially doubles if you are sharing. Which is a nice benefit.

But, to be honest, I had no idea that this would even be considered an issue. We've swapped spells between wizards since pretty much day 1. It always makes me happy when I find that my experiences are so different from other people's in the hobby.

 

[CapnZapp]

I think the fact it isn't discussed or even mentioned by the rulebook is why it feels... "out of bounds" (trying to not say "abusive" or "like cheating").

Still I don't think spell swapping is so über I would feel compelled to choose Wizard if I wanted to play a spellcaster in a party that already had one Wizard.

(I would still choose Wizard over Sorcerer or Warlock but that is for entirely different reasons that has nothing to do with the slightly larger spell repertoire)

 

[delericho]

2 PC Wizards Copying each others spell books. Is this a thing?

Sure. And it's fine - not really different from copying any other Wizard's book.

If so why doesn't this get done more often?

Well, it's not common because you tend not to have two Wizards in the same party, and it's not common because it's a lot of money to not really add much to the capabilities of the party. It's also something I'd discourage (but not ban) for niche protection reasons - better to have two Wizards who do different things than two Wizards who do all the same things (and, likewise, I'd encourage two Fighters to choose different fighting styles, or whatever).