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Anyone try messing with the spell scribing rules?
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Yeah, we changed them. Not to make things easier for Wizards, though.
Scribing:
- Takes the same amount of time as before. (Scribing precisely by hand sucks.
)
- Costs 1/10 normal. (How much can ink cost, really? )
- Cannot be done using scrolls. This *requires* spellbooks or similar materials.
Scrolls can assist a wizard who wants to research a spell, but they do not contain the whole formula for the magic. The reason for this is simple: no wizard would sell their greatest secrets so cheaply, in a conventional fantasy world. (Teaching someone Imprisonment or Timestop for less than 4 grand is just Wrong.)
Scribing:
- Takes the same amount of time as before. (Scribing precisely by hand sucks.
)- Costs 1/10 normal. (How much can ink cost, really?
)- Cannot be done using scrolls. This *requires* spellbooks or similar materials.
Scrolls can assist a wizard who wants to research a spell, but they do not contain the whole formula for the magic. The reason for this is simple: no wizard would sell their greatest secrets so cheaply, in a conventional fantasy world. (Teaching someone Imprisonment or Timestop for less than 4 grand is just Wrong.)
loviatarfrostbringer
First Post
My DM & I have instituted this maxim - the spell cannot be more expensive than buying it as a scroll at minimum level (of course, barring market inflation and exactly who you are buying it from. That covers the spell's base price.
Then scribing it into a "standard" non-magical 100 page book costs 50 g.p per page per spell level (cantrips using only a single page) [our campaign has new cantrips, and as such, not every wizard knows every cantrip...I think he gives us our choice of 2xInt mod at 1st level]. This formula makes it pretty close to 2e spellbook cost (1000 gp per book + 50 gp per page in ink).
Of course, I personally use Boccob's Blessed Books for my scribing, and since it doesn't exactly say how much it costs to scribe we make each page cost 50 gp. Pretty economical and the extra-sturdy/less encumberance BBB is a nice addition.
Hope this helps.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled propaganda.
Then scribing it into a "standard" non-magical 100 page book costs 50 g.p per page per spell level (cantrips using only a single page) [our campaign has new cantrips, and as such, not every wizard knows every cantrip...I think he gives us our choice of 2xInt mod at 1st level]. This formula makes it pretty close to 2e spellbook cost (1000 gp per book + 50 gp per page in ink).
Of course, I personally use Boccob's Blessed Books for my scribing, and since it doesn't exactly say how much it costs to scribe we make each page cost 50 gp. Pretty economical and the extra-sturdy/less encumberance BBB is a nice addition.
Hope this helps.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled propaganda.
ConcreteBuddha
First Post
We altered the wizard so that:
1) Scribing costs 50gp a page.
2) Wizards don't get their 2 free spells per level.
3) You can scribe spells you can't cast yet into your books.
4) Same amount of time.
What this does is make the wizard go nuts when they find new spellbooks and scrolls and he isn't screwed when the party levels up in a dungeon. Also, the wizard doesn't automatically take the two best spells at each level. (Mirror Image and Invis, Fly and Fireball) This gives control of spell acquisition back to the DM:
"Erasmus, want to buy that scroll of fireball from the wizard's guild? Have you paid your dues lately? Mwahahahaha..."
1) Scribing costs 50gp a page.
2) Wizards don't get their 2 free spells per level.
3) You can scribe spells you can't cast yet into your books.
4) Same amount of time.
What this does is make the wizard go nuts when they find new spellbooks and scrolls and he isn't screwed when the party levels up in a dungeon. Also, the wizard doesn't automatically take the two best spells at each level. (Mirror Image and Invis, Fly and Fireball) This gives control of spell acquisition back to the DM:
"Erasmus, want to buy that scroll of fireball from the wizard's guild? Have you paid your dues lately? Mwahahahaha..."
I will say that I disagree with the time to scribe a scroll until higher level spells. If I can intrisically(sic) cast a spell I should know the wording, components, and somatics that should be the easy part. The actual scribing should be comparable to the power of the spell(hence the 1 day per 1000gp cost).
What I am saying is that lower level spells should not take a full day of scribing if you have everything ready and available. As you get to the more powerful spells then the rule should apply.
What I am doing in my campaign (and we have agreed to do in the campaign that I am playing) is make it easier to scribe more than 1 per day, but the cost still is the same no matter what level. I think maybe we said as many 1st and 2nd level that you can memorize and 3rd level as many as you can make to 1000gp. I think as you get into 4th and above then you should use the 1000gp per day.
I know that most people will disagree, but these peopel don't play scroll scribers. The money to scribe the scrolls are the hard part and then later on the time is a huge factor too.
The scribing of spells into your spellbook is more time consuming and expensive enough.
What I am saying is that lower level spells should not take a full day of scribing if you have everything ready and available. As you get to the more powerful spells then the rule should apply.
What I am doing in my campaign (and we have agreed to do in the campaign that I am playing) is make it easier to scribe more than 1 per day, but the cost still is the same no matter what level. I think maybe we said as many 1st and 2nd level that you can memorize and 3rd level as many as you can make to 1000gp. I think as you get into 4th and above then you should use the 1000gp per day.
I know that most people will disagree, but these peopel don't play scroll scribers. The money to scribe the scrolls are the hard part and then later on the time is a huge factor too.
The scribing of spells into your spellbook is more time consuming and expensive enough.
Bronn Spellforger
First Post
ConcreteBuddha said:
As a player I dig these house rules. My wizard entered a dungeon at 3rd level... he's now 6th level. I've got 4 third level spells and 2 fourth level spells... along with 4-5 captured spellbooks that I can't use. The party refuses to wait for me to scribe them (which is why I took Dimension Door at 4th level instead of something that might benefit the whole party).
I shoulda been a sorcerer.
But from a overall game perspective, sorcerers so much, much weaker than Wizards... scribing costs and time are the main thing they have going for them. To take them away, well, who'd wanna be a sorcerer?
My situation is less a result of gaming rules and more a result of a bastard of a DM who doesn't want me to be too powerful (his dominating NPC is the main advocate for not allowing me to take time to scribe the spells). Bastard.
Tom Cashel
First Post
Bronn Spellforger said:
Anybody seen the preview for Attack of the Clones?
Anakin: "I should be the most powerful Jedi ever! Obi-Wan is holding me back!"
Nobody likes a whiner, Bronn.
And now back to your regularly scheduled topic...
It seems that if you played a wizard then, yes you would like it to be a bit easier.
If you DM it is your job to run a fair and fun game and if you decide to use the rules as is then so be it. I disliked the rule when I was DMing and changed it. It is fine the way it is, but as a DM and a player, I thought changing the lower level scribing was not un-balancing.
Bronn Spellforger
First Post
Tom Cashel said:
You see what a bastard he is? Most annoying is that everytime we play D&D, he plays the Blues Brothers soundtrack over and over again. After 5 hours... I'm ready to kick him in the junk!
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