Selling a spellbook

[Asmo]

I need help with the following:

a spellbook containing all cantrips, 6 1 level spells and 2 second level spells.
I need help with how much it´s worth if we are going to sell it, and how you calculate this.
Reading page 220 and 490-491 in the Core Rulebook give me some information, but I´m really unsure if my numbers are correct. Thanks!


Asmo

 

[SkredlitheOgre]

Well, the way I figger it, you get 12.5 gp for the cantrips, 150 for the 1st level spells, and 300 for the 2nd level spells. Total, that gives you 462.50 gp that you divide in half, which gets you 231.25. I would probably round this up to, say, 240 gp total for the spells and the book itself.

 

[paradox42]

Well, the way I figger it, you get 12.5 gp for the cantrips, 150 for the 1st level spells, and 300 for the 2nd level spells. Total, that gives you 462.50 gp that you divide in half, which gets you 231.25. I would probably round this up to, say, 240 gp total for the spells and the book itself.

Where are you getting the huge difference between 0-level and 1st-level? Going by scroll costs, 0-level is 12.5, but 1st is 25- and 2nd is 150.

Now, the number of 0-level spells is technically an unknown here, since there are new ones in supplement books- and the OP doesn't count them for us. But let's assume Core only for a base calculation. That would make the book's cost (if it were scrolls) ((20 x 12.5) = 250) + ((6 x 25) = 150) + ((2 x 150) = 300) = 700 gp. That means a typical sale price of 350 gp.

 

[SkredlitheOgre]

Where are you getting the huge difference between 0-level and 1st-level? Going by scroll costs, 0-level is 12.5, but 1st is 25- and 2nd is 150.

Now, the number of 0-level spells is technically an unknown here, since there are new ones in supplement books- and the OP doesn't count them for us. But let's assume Core only for a base calculation. That would make the book's cost (if it were scrolls) ((20 x 12.5) = 250) + ((6 x 25) = 150) + ((2 x 150) = 300) = 700 gp. That means a typical sale price of 350 gp.

See, that's what I get for reading with a headache. I missed the word 'all' in the original post.

 

[Asmo]

You don´t add the cost for scribing the spells (p.219)?


Asmo

 

[paradox42]

You don´t add the cost for scribing the spells (p.219)?

Why would you? The spellbook's worth to whoever uses it (i.e. the putative buyer) isn't in the fact that the spells were scribed already- a Wizard preparing spells from that spellbook would still have to make checks to do it, every time. To get so he doesn't have to make checks, he'd have to copy the spells over to his own spellbook anyway, and eat the cost at that time.

The worth of the spellbook is, therefore, that spells can be learned and cast out of it essentially as though they were on scrolls.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Quick question:

How many are "all" of the cantrips? Core rulebook? Ultimate Magic? Various regional sourcebooks?

Assuming you mean just the core rulebook, the calculation for a spellbook's value is:

( (Ink Charge) + (Viewing Charge) ) * Number of Spells

In charges are spell level squared times 10gp (half the cost of a 1st-level spell for a cantrip, not 1/4), and the viewing charge (e.g., the normal rate a wizard charges to let you copy a spell out of his book) is the spell level squared times 5gp (again, half the cost of a 1st-level for a cantrip).

So, for a core rulebook spellbook (20 cantrips), you're looking at:

( (Ink Charge) + (Viewing Charge) ) * Number of Spells
Cantrips: ((1 * 1 * 10 / 2) + (1 * 1 * 5 / 2) * 20 = 150gp
1st-Level: ((1 * 1 * 10) + (1 * 1 * 5) * 6 = 90gp
2nd-Level: ((2 * 2 * 10) + (2 * 2 * 5) * 2 = 120gp
------------------------------
Total: 360gp

You can usually sell it for half of that amount.

Why would you? The spellbook's worth to whoever uses it (i.e. the putative buyer) isn't in the fact that the spells were scribed already

Actually, that's exactly how you calculate it.

Selling a Spellbook

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

The designers have clarified that "purchasing," in this case, refers to this rule:

Spells Copied from Another's Spellbook or a Scroll
...
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). Rare and unique spells might cost significantly more.

... and not the cost of an equivalent scroll.

EDIT2:

Also:

a Wizard preparing spells from that spellbook would still have to make checks to do it, every time.

Take. 10.

Wizard Spells and Borrowed Spellbooks
...
Once a spell from another spellcaster's book is deciphered, the reader must make a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell's level) to prepare the spell.

With a DC of only 15 + Spell Level, you'll be able to easily Take 10 on that check and guarantee success with only a moderate Intelligence bonus, you'll be autopassing that check in no time (you are putting ranks in Spellcraft with every Wizard level, right?).

Wizard Level | Spell Level / DC | Required Int to Autopass
---------------------------------------------------
1            |     0 / 15       |    12
1            |     1 / 16       |    14
3            |     2 / 17       |    12
5            |     3 / 18       |    10
7            |     4 / 19       |    8

... Etc.

 

[Asmo]

Sorry, just the cantrips from the core book.
This is a spellbook from a killed enemy, loot. Glad I asked about this: my calculations is based on the following:

-spellbook: 15 gp

-20 0 level spells, cost to buy 12,5 and writing cost 5 gp = 17,5 *20 = 350 gp.

-6 first level spells, cost to buy 25 gp and writing cost 10 gp = 35 * 6 = 210 gp.

-2 second level spells, cost to buy 150 gp and writing cost 40 gp = 190 * 2 =
380 gp, for a total of 955 gp / 477,5.

Not correct?

Asmo

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

No, not correct.

The price of the book is immaterial once you've started putting spells in it.

The cost to purchase the spell is not the cost of a scroll of that spell; it's the cost of looking at someone else's book when you copy it. This was confirmed on the Paizo boards, FWIW - it also means that it isn't more expensive to buy a spellbook with a spell that costs XP or has an expensive material component.

So use my calculation above. I had the same question a while back - we'd fought a spellcaster in RotRL, and I captured her spellbook. Since I'm playing a Magus, the spellbook had a lot of spells in it that I couldn't use, so it was more profitable for the party for me to copy the spells from the spellbook that I could use and then sell the book to the book merchant in-town.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Depending on the DM, you might not get anything for the cantrips. You could only sell it to a wizard, and a wizard already knows all of those spells. 'I already have all of those, I leaned 'em before I was even first level. Why would I pay you for 'em?'

I would tend to discount them.

The Ultimate Combat book does add some oddballs that do not start with cantrips, but learn and cast them as 1st level spells, but....

The Auld Grump, first rule of selling - the buyer has to want what you have....