D&D 4E 4e spellbook questions

[MrGrenadine]

Since arcane spells in 4e are At-Will/ Encounter/ Daily powers, same as fighter feats, rogue abilities and everything else, I thought that spellbooks weren't going to be used. Not sure why--I guess spellbooks just say 'Vancian' to me.

Anyway, then I saw that a spellbook is mentioned on the KotS Wizard's character sheet, allowing him to swap his daily spell out after a full rest.

So that got me thinking:

Does the 4e spellbook work similarly to 3.5--a Wizard gets a certain number of new spells with each level bump, and can add more spells from scrolls or other Wizard's books between levels?​

Can a wizard swap his daily spell for an encounter spell on the fly--and basically get 2 encounter spells in one encounter? Or at least memorize an encounter spell in the daily slot? (If the encounter spell is cold-based, and the daily is fire-based, for instance, and the Wizard finds himself up against a fire giant.)​

If a spell is a daily power at level 1, can it become an encounter or at-will spell at higher levels? It wouldn't make sense to me that a 22nd level Wizard would only be able to fire off one acid arrow a day, same as a 3nd level Wizard.​

Can a wizard memorize any spell in his or her book in an at-will, encounter or daily slot, or are spells built as either an at-will, encounter, or daily variety?​

I know--all will be revealed in a couple weeks, but does anyone have any further info, or care to speculate?


--MrG

 

[Vaeron]

Some interesting questions in there... I personally like the idea of trading your daily for one bonus use of an encounter, since it's technically a less powerful spell, but I suspect that sort of thing will have to be house-ruled until they release an arcane-specific book.

And I don't doubt that wizards can scribe new spells into their spellbooks off scrolls or out of other wizzies spellbooks. That's always been half the fun of killing wizard enemies!

 

[Ktulu]

Don't quote me, and I can't recall the reference, but IIRC, rituals are contained in spellbooks, along with the bigger spells the wizard can cast. A first level wizard starts with some rituals (According to someone who saw the PH) and anyone else can get them. Apparently, anyone who casts a ritual has to have a spellbook (so, yeah, all that time your fighter was picking on the bookworm...now he's got to carry one, too).

Ktulu

 

[mach1.9pants]

AFAIK nothing has been previewed, although someone who had a sneak peek at the books says that rituals and utilities go in there as well (So does that mean everyone has a ritual spell book?)

Imo, to make it balanced, if a Wiz looses his spellbook he will be able to prepare the daily power he already has but NOT swap it out after his extended rest. i.e. he ends up having 1 (or more once higher level) daily power like everyone else and looses the ability to swap out until he regains, or writes a new, spellbook.

Just my wild speculation, of course!

 

[MrGrenadine]

Hmmm...rituals.

I wonder if there will be a limit to the number of rituals that can be cast per day--besides the length of time needed per ritual.

 

[MindWanderer]

It would be odd if the wizard puts rituals in his spellbook, because other classes can use rituals but don't have one. There must be some other limiting factor that we have no idea about.

 

[Gloombunny]

If a spell is a daily power at level 1, can it become an encounter or at-will spell at higher levels? It wouldn't make sense to me that a 22nd level Wizard would only be able to fire off one acid arrow a day, same as a 3nd level Wizard.

Makes sense to me. That's exactly how it worked in Vance's stories, actually. A more powerful wizard could hold more spells in his mind, but once cast a spell is gone until he hits the books again.

 

[glass]

Since arcane spells in 4e are At-Will/ Encounter/ Daily powers, same as fighter feats, rogue abilities and everything else, I thought that spellbooks weren't going to be used. Not sure why--I guess spellbooks just say 'Vancian' to me.

They said right from the beginning, vancian wasn't going away, it was just being reduced.

Anyway, I thought this had been revealed a couple of days ago. Wizards get to put utility and daily spells in their spellbooks, and choose each day which ones they want to prepare (similar to how it worked in prior editions, but on a smaller scale -and not affecting at wills and per encounters.


glass.

 

[Green Knight]

It would be odd if the wizard puts rituals in his spellbook, because other classes can use rituals but don't have one. There must be some other limiting factor that we have no idea about.

If not in his spellbook, then where? One would think you have to write it down, so why not in the spellbook? Besides, it isn't strange for another character to have his Rituals written down in a book. Is it a 'Spellbook'? Probably not, as it doesn't allow him to substitute his Utility and Daily Powers after an extended rest. No reason he can't write his rituals down into a book, though.

 

[Flobby]

If not in his spellbook, then where? One would think you have to write it down, so why not in the spellbook? Besides, it isn't strange for another character to have his Rituals written down in a book. Is it a 'Spellbook'? Probably not, as it doesn't allow him to substitute his Utility and Daily Powers after an extended rest. No reason he can't write his rituals down into a book, though.

I think I remember hearing somewhere that rituals are recorded in scrolls...