Rationalizing spell books and retraining

[DSRilk]

Replacing an existing power with a new one makes sense to me both from a game balance point of view as well as an in-character. The character simply stops practicing one thing and focuses on another, and as they level, they are able to keep a greater number of complicated maneuvers in the forefront of their mind. I've been a programmer long enough to have been an expert in a few languages so long ago that now I don't know that I could even program in them, so the concept is real to me.

Spell books, however, throw a wrinkle in this for me. I get from a balance perspective that wizards should not be able to keep spells in their spell books that they replace, but from an in-character perspective, how the heck to I justify replacing an older spell?

 

[keterys]

The same way you justify replacing a power - the spellbook doesn't let you 'poof cast it', they still need to study and practice it, and if it falls into disuse then it's no longer possible to use that power.

Alternatively, the spellbook feature is very magical and it isn't a carefully ordered list of pages, but rather magical notes and glimpses into the mind of the user itself, so as the user's attention wanders, so too does the spellbook, etc.

 

[DogBackward]

I can really get behind something like that, actually. Like, being able to attack a wizard indirectly by getting ahold of his spellbook... I like it. And the whole "My spell vanished!" deal was kinda bugging me, too. Thanks.

 

[malcolm_n]

The same way you justify replacing a power - the spellbook doesn't let you 'poof cast it', they still need to study and practice it, and if it falls into disuse then it's no longer possible to use that power.

Alternatively, the spellbook feature is very magical and it isn't a carefully ordered list of pages, but rather magical notes and glimpses into the mind of the user itself, so as the user's attention wanders, so too does the spellbook, etc.

Oh.. Oh.. A cool idea for an artifact. The spellbook that doesn't just think for you, You begin to think for it..