How much for a Book of Infinate Spells?

[bastrak]

My PCs have obtained the Book of Infinate Spells from the 1st edition classic I7 Baltron's Beacon (though we are playing 3.5) and have come to the conclusion they would rather sell it than keep it. It has seven pages remaining and the current page is on the Arcane 5th level spell overland flight.

The DMG not particularly surprisingly lists no market price for this minor artifact, so it's really down to me to come up with a reasonable offer for it.

I like to hear opinions (preferably with explination) on what sort of offer would be reasonable to make to the PCs, given the number of remaining pages.

Thanks.

 

[concerro]

My PCs have obtained the Book of Infinate Spells from the 1st edition classic I7 Baltron's Beacon (though we are playing 3.5) and have come to the conclusion they would rather sell it than keep it. It has seven pages remaining and the current page is on the Arcane 5th level spell overland flight.

The DMG not particularly surprisingly lists no market price for this minor artifact, so it's really down to me to come up with a reasonable offer for it.

I like to hear opinions (preferably with explanation) on what sort of offer would be reasonable to make to the PCs, given the number of remaining pages.

Thanks.

I would not pay that much for it. It is a book of random spells. On the other hand it may have high value to a collector of magical items since it is an artifact.

20000(max)-->I know it is an artifact, but paying any more than that is like paying 1000 dollars for a dress just because it has the artifact name tag sewn in the back.

 

[Rhun]

I agree with concerro; though it is a minor artifact, it has extremely limited use. I'm not even sure I would value it as high as 20k.

 

[Nebten]

I think less then 20k sound about right.
Pardon me while I make a few assumptions. I am assuming that the book randomly produces spells from level 1 thru 9. So you pretty much have a 7 random scrolls. One already is a 5th level spell which at scroll cost is 1125 gp.

Quick math of averaging a first level scroll through 9th level scrolls is 1464 gp (baring scrolls that use costly material components).
So we have (1464*6)+1125 = 9909 gp.

Now you can play with the figures a bit more to increase for caster level and such. But there is a rough starting point.

 

[thedmstrikes]

I would suggest two avenues other than selling the item for cash. First is an obvious DM tool for the removal of unwanted or extraneous magic items and that is theft. If this is not convenient, then a donation to a church of magic (I am a Realms player, so Mystra on that world, or also in the Realms, there is a city called Candlekeep that only allows new people into the city if they can produce a rare book that is valued higher than 5000 GP. Perhaps your next adventure needs some research fom that location and that minor artifact can be their entry fee). As my brain churns I can thnk of another idea and that is of a widely known and very high levelled NPC come calling to "collect" their lost item or family heirloom. Just some other ideas other than selling....

 

[irdeggman]

Remember that in earlier editions you could actually cast a spell from a spellbook.

It is not possible in 3.5.

I don't know what the item did specifically in 1st ed but if it allowed you to cast spells directly from it - it should not be allowed in a 3.5 game since it breaks the game mechanics.

If it was simple a super spellbook - it's value is not very high.

Be real careful about inserting magic items from earlier editions into a 3.5 game there are a lot of differences in game mechanics that must be considered prior to inserting the item.

 

[bastrak]

Thanks for the feedback so far.

While the Book of Infinate Spells was around in 1st edition, it is still around and I think largely unchanged in 3.5. The details can be found at p277 of the DMG.

While I'd agree it is essentially a spellbook containing a few random spells, there seem to be two significant advantages. Firstly the spell can be cast once a day every day and secondly anyone can cast it, they do not have to even be a spellcasting class. I'd say this raises the value.

Comments please.

Thanks for the suggestions, thedmstrikes but the Book is a significant part of the treasure in I7 and I think what you suggest would lead to some very unhappy players. I don't have a problem with them selling the book as such.

 

[Doug Sundseth]

The costing below assumes use by a character who can cast the spell normally. If you prefer, you could use another pricing model, but this seems the most obvious to me.

I think the best reading is that the spells would be cast at their base levels (casting level being covered under, "Treat each spell use as if a scroll were being employed, for purposes of determining casting time, spell failure, and so on.")

The expectation value for the number of uses for each page is 10. The base value of the first page is thus 10 * 5 * 9 * 25 = 11250 GP.

Subsequent pages will each have a base value similarly determined:

4th level (5% chance) = 10 * 4 * 7 * 25 = 7000 GP
5th level (45% chance) = 10 * 5 * 9 * 25 = 11250 GP
6th level (30% chance) = 10 * 6 * 11 * 25 = 16500 GP
7th level (15% chance) = 10 * 7 * 13 * 25 = 22750 GP
8th level (10% chance) = 10 * 8 * 15 * 25 = 30000 GP
9th level (5% chance) = 10 * 9 * 17 * 25 = 38250 GP

Using the weighting above, a random page will have an expectation value of 18687.5 GP, and the book will have an expectation value of 123375GP.

I would give a discount from this value, since only one spell is usable at a time and there's no way to know how useful the next spell will be.

My value would be somewhere between 60K and 100K, putting the sale value somewhere between 30K and 50K GP. (Always assuming an available buyer, of course.)

Note: The fact that the book can be used by a non-caster to cast spells seems like it would approximately counter the reduced number of castings for such casters.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

I thought the book was such that you could cast from it infinitely many times (Might have taken up an equivalent level spell slot like a rune staff for balance, I don't know. If not, might be a good way to balance it.), but each time you turned the page, you got a new random spell and could never go back (spells got erased, effectively).

So you can keep it on the same spell and just use it as much as you like, or keep flipping through the book if dissatisfied until the last page. If that's how it works, it's basically like a random, uber wand. I have no idea how much it should cost, and how to factor in the remaining pages into that estimate.

 

[concerro]

Thanks for the feedback so far.

While the Book of Infinate Spells was around in 1st edition, it is still around and I think largely unchanged in 3.5. The details can be found at p277 of the DMG.

While I'd agree it is essentially a spellbook containing a few random spells, there seem to be two significant advantages. Firstly the spell can be cast once a day every day and secondly anyone can cast it, they do not have to even be a spellcasting class. I'd say this raises the value.

Comments please.

Thanks for the suggestions, thedmstrikes but the Book is a significant part of the treasure in I7 and I think what you suggest would lead to some very unhappy players. I don't have a problem with them selling the book as such.

Unless the players are willing to cast a divination spell to prove the book's other spells will be useful to the buyer I stand at 20000. The book could realistically have nothing useful. Now if you are just trying to give them a fair amount wealth for the entire treasure then find out what the total value of the treasure was than can actually be priced. Decide the max amount you would allow them to have. Find the difference between the two and the value of the book should be that price.