How do people handle finding enemy spellbooks?

[harpy]

So the party kills off an enemy wizard and finds his spell book. The PC wizard's eyes sparkle...

Now, from how the rules read, while it might take a bit of time, it sounds as if the entire contents of the enemy wizard's spellbook could just be copied into the PC wizard's spellbook. Sure rolls need to be made, perhaps the wizard needs to wait another level to get more spellcraft ranks, etc. But the end result is that it sounds as if the PC wizard can basically get a bunch of spells for free and then sell the enemy wizard's spellbook for half price.

How do people deal with this little nuance of party distribution of wealth and power?

 

[billd91]

Sounds about right to me. Keep in mind that putting spells in the spellbook isn't 100% free. It does cost some money in materials to do that.

 

[Ryujin]

Yup, that's pretty much how I handle it. I handle how much they can get out of the spellbook through repetition of some of the spells that the party Wizard already has. If I don't want them to get a spellbook out of it I just make the enemy caster a Sorcerer. Hell, evil guys should usually be called Sorcerers anyway.

 

[pawsplay]

Yup. Similarly to how NPCs always seem to have less magic items than PCs, I try to be conscious of how many spells I make available in this way.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Yeah, it's pretty much just copy and sell, but there's a few things that can control handing out spells if the DM needs to. Frex:

- All wizards have more or less the same spells; copying the spellboook only nets a few new spells for the PC.

- Make it a little more difficult by encoding the spells, so the PC has to expend more time, money or knowledge to get the spells.

- Split spell books into pieces: the one or two books the party finds are the wiz's travelling or working spellbooks. The full one is very well hidden.

- Using another wiz's spells could have consequences: If you kill Framboise the Red and learn fireball from his spellbook, his friends might recognize you as his murderer by the subtle yet distinctive raspberry aroma of your new fireballs. Naturally, his friends will want revenge. Or imagine the demon Prince Graxxahak's ire when he realizes it wasn't Lord Darkk who used Lord Darkk's gate spell to summon him.

 

[Ambrus]

If you kill Framboise the Red and learn fireball from his spellbook, his friends might recognize you as his murderer by the subtle yet distinctive raspberry aroma of your new fireballs. Naturally, his friends will want revenge.

Oh, so these guys are attacking me because they happen to recognize the distinctive scent of their deceased friend's fireballs? Sorry, but if a DM pulled this kind of cheese in play I'd call shenanigans on him.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Oh, so these guys are attacking me because they happen to recognize the distinctive scent of their deceased friend's fireballs? Sorry, but if a DM pulled this kind of cheese in play I'd call shenanigans on him.

(1) Is it possible that it was something of an exaggerated joke example? The gate example was a more serious one.
(If you don't know, framboise = raspberry in French.)

(2) Some people actually do enjoy that kind of fluff. It's not unreasonable that different casters cast spells in slightly different ways. It's also not unreasonable that all castings of a spell are exactly identical. Depends on the game world. More importantly, it depends on the group. Obviously, such "shenanigans" have no place in your group. So be it.

(3) "YMMV". That's generally implied in any post making suggestions. Apologies if that wasn't clear.

 

[Renfield]

There's also the fact that the PC's might not get the spell book when they fight the Wizard in question. Perhaps they encounter him in the castles War Room with a contingent of guards and in order to acquire his spell book they have to find his quarters or go to his tower where there might be guardians, wards, traps and other fun things that make them work even more to get a few spells.

Also, nothing says the Wizard in question has to have spells the PC Wizard doesn't have. Sure there should be one or two new spells but the rest could be standard fare or spells the PC already has if you're concerned about spell balance.

Just my two bits.

 

[Drathir]

you could always spend a feat or two on that one that gives the wizard a number of spells he can prepare without his book. it lets him have access to 1 per int mod or something and if you play it right could easily cover the spells an enemy needs/can use in a n encouter thus eliminating his need to carry his spell book. o and about encoding it... it already is, if you read all the spellcasting stuff it says how the spellcraft checks are there because everyone gains access to their spells in a different way with different formulas and symnbols blah blah blah technical jargon blah. or have him catch fire... paper is highly flamable and the wizard spell book doesnt mention being fire retardent

 

[frankthedm]

How do people deal with this little nuance of party distribution of wealth and power?

Rule that cantrips have little to no resale value. Pathfinder seems fairly good about the book prices compared to 3.5



In most cases, wizards charge a fee for the privilege of copying spells from their spellbooks. This fee is usually equal to half the cost to write the spell into a spellbook (see Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook)

Materials and Costs: The cost for writing a new spell into a spellbook depends on the level of the spell, as noted on the following table. Note that a wizard does not have to pay these costs in time or gold for spells he gains for free at each new level.

Spell Level Writing Cost
0 ~ 5 gp
1 ~ 10 gp
2 ~ 40 gp
3 ~ 90 gp
4 ~ 160 gp
5 ~ 250 gp
6 ~ 360 gp
7 ~ 490 gp
8 ~ 640 gp
9 ~ 810 gp

Selling a Spellbook
Captured spellbooks can be sold for an amount equal to half the cost of purchasing and inscribing the spells within.