D&D 5E Why not write spellbooks in Common?

[Ed Laprade]

I very rarely play Wizards, but decided to play my first in 5E recently. So I got to thinking, why is it that all Wizard's write their spellbooks in a code that only they can read? How does that square with having a Wizard mentor (being an apprentice)? Wouldn't it make more sense for the Master to teach his apprentice his own code? How would he correct any mistakes the apprentice might make while writing what the Master has taught him? And there is the question regarding those who have any Traits, etc. that cause the character to spread knowledge around.

Oh, and it eliminates two well worn tropes. The kindly Master Wizard who gifts his prize pupil with a spellbook before sending him out into the world to make his mark. And the impatient apprentice who steals his Master's spellbook and runs off to make his mark on the world.

Comments?

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

I very rarely play Wizards, but decided to play my first in 5E recently. So I got to thinking, why is it that all Wizard's write their spellbooks in a code that only they can read? How does that square with having a Wizard mentor (being an apprentice)? Wouldn't it make more sense for the Master to teach his apprentice his own code? How would he correct any mistakes the apprentice might make while writing what the Master has taught him? And there is the question regarding those who have any Traits, etc. that cause the character to spread knowledge around.

Oh, and it eliminates two well worn tropes. The kindly Master Wizard who gifts his prize pupil with a spellbook before sending him out into the world to make his mark. And the impatient apprentice who steals his Master's spellbook and runs off to make his mark on the world.

Comments?

It's because of Mazirian the Magician and Jack Vance. Think of the "code that only they can read" as being something akin to C++ or LISP. It's not encoded to keep it secret--it's encoded because that's the only way to express concepts in (magical) engineering which can't be expressed properly in English (Common).

Mazirian stroked his chin. Apparently he must capture the girl himself. Later, when black night lay across the forest, he would seek through his books for spells to guard him through the unpredictable glades. They would be poignant corrosive spells, of such a nature that one would daunt the brain of an ordinary man and two render him mad. Mazirian, by dint of stringent exercise, could encompass four of the most formidable, or six of the lesser spells.

...The Magician climbed the stairs. Midnight found him in his study, poring through leather-bound tomes and untidy portfolios ... At one time a thousand or more runes, spells, incantations, curses and sorceries had been known. The reach of Grand Motholam—Ascolais, the Ide of Kauchique, Almery to the South, the Land of the Falling Wall to the East—swarmed with sorcerers of every description, of whom the chief was the Arch-Necromancer Phandaal. A hundred spells Phandaal personally had formulated—though rumor said that demons whispered at his ear when he wrought magic. Pontecilla the Pious, then ruler of Grand Motholam, put Phandaal to torment, and after a terrible night, he killed Phandaal and outlawed sorcery throughout the land. The wizards of Grand Motholam fled like beetles under a strong light; the lore was dispersed and forgotten, until now, at this dim time, with the sun dark, wilderness obscuring Ascolais, and the white city Kaiin half in ruins, only a few more than a hundred spells remained to the knowledge of man. Of these, Mazirian had access to seventy-three, and gradually, by stratagem and negotiation, was securing the others.

Mazirian made a selection from his books and with great effort forced five spells upon his brain: Phandaal's Gyrator, Felojun's Second Hypnotic Spell, The Excellent Prismatic Spray, The Charm of Untiring Nourishment, and the Spell of the Omnipotent Sphere. This accomplished, Mazirian drank wine and retired to his couch.

Edit: I just noticed something. It looks like you think that wizards can't read each other's spellbooks, but in 5E that isn't true. You can copy spells out of another wizard's spellbook at some expense in time and money. Think of that as the equivalent of learning someone else's painting technique, or reading through source code on github. It takes some time to digest it and make it your own, but not because you can't read the language it's written in.

 

[Lanefan]

Edit: I just noticed something. It looks like you think that wizards can't read each other's spellbooks, but in 5E that isn't true. You can copy spells out of another wizard's spellbook at some expense in time and money. Think of that as the equivalent of learning someone else's painting technique, or reading through source code on github. It takes some time to digest it and make it your own, but not because you can't read the language it's written in.

Then again, "Read Magic" and-or "Comprehend Language" have always been there to mitigate this in older editions...assuming you knew them.

A question, then: if all wizards can read each other's spells in 5e, what can a 5e wizard do if she explicitly does not want anyone else (e.g. other nosy wizards in the party) to be able to read her spellbook without difficulty and without resorting to Exploding Rune or similar? The answer used to be "write them in the most unusual language you know"...but that defense is gone now.

Lanefan

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Then again, "Read Magic" and-or "Comprehend Language" have always been there to mitigate this in older editions...assuming you knew them.

A question, then: if all wizards can read each other's spells in 5e, what can a 5e wizard do if she explicitly does not want anyone else (e.g. other nosy wizards in the party) to be able to read her spellbook without difficulty and without resorting to Exploding Rune or similar? The answer used to be "write them in the most unusual language you know"...but that defense is gone now.

How about a nice illusion?

1st-level illusion (ritual)

Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Components: S, M (a lead-based ink worth at least 10 gp, which the spell consumes)
Duration: 10 days

You write on parchment, paper, or some other suitable writing material and imbue it with a potent illusion that lasts for the duration.

To you and any creatures you designate when you cast the spell, the writing appears normal, written in your hand, and conveys whatever meaning you intended when you wrote the text. To all others, the writing appears as if it were written in an unknown or magical script that is unintelligible. Alternatively, you can cause the writing to appear to be an entirely different message, written in a different hand and language, though the language must be one you know.

Should the spell be dispelled, the original script and the illusion both disappear.

A creature with truesight can read the hidden message.

 

[MarkB]

How about a nice illusion?

That could get expensive - you'd have to replace your spellbook every 10 days, at a cost of 1 hour and 10gp per spell level, plus the 10gp for the illusory script (assuming that one casting covers the whole book). And if the book ever got hit with a dispel magic you'd lose the whole thing.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

That could get expensive - you'd have to replace your spellbook every 10 days, at a cost of 1 hour and 10gp per spell level, plus the 10gp for the illusory script (assuming that one casting covers the whole book). And if the book ever got hit with a dispel magic you'd lose the whole thing.

I don't follow your math. Why do you have to replace the whole spellbook?

1 gp per day doesn't seem like an excessive price for secrecy--at least not for the type of paranoid wizard who likes to hide his spells from his fellow PCs.

Edit: oh, I see. You're reading "you write on parchment" as part of the spell, as if the spell cannot be cast on existing writing. Under that interpretation (which might be correct--I'd have to think about it) you'd probably want a different spell, maybe a custom-researched one.

 

[MostlyDm]

That could get expensive - you'd have to replace your spellbook every 10 days, at a cost of 1 hour and 10gp per spell level, plus the 10gp for the illusory script (assuming that one casting covers the whole book). And if the book ever got hit with a dispel magic you'd lose the whole thing.

I get how you're interpreting the spell, but personally I'd rule that you can cast this over text already written. I don't see the need to use a restrictive interpretation of what is already a bit of a niche spell.

 

[Sunseeker]

Because Wizards are powerful, and therefore paranoid that people will steal their stuff and kill them? I mean really the lifestyle of a Wizard can't be far off from a Sith. You're constantly searching for new and more powerful magic (for whatever reason) and constantly fearing that someone *coughWOTCcough* is going to steal and bur...I mean copy, copy your books.


Hmmm...now I really want to make an obsessive organization of Wizards who live by the Coast who do nothing more than attack other magic-users to steal their secrets and destroy their work.

 

[Gardens & Goblins]

Dear diary,

Today I learnt how to fold reality itself. I can wish, warp and bend the universe to my will. Should I choose, I could kill every other child within our fair city, and possibly the realm.

As I write down the secrets to such power in my well worn tome, I can't help wonder, what would happen if this knowledge was to fall into the wrong hands?

..

Ah well. Perhaps I am being paranoid. Perhaps I should focus on believing in the best in people, especially power-hungry, highly intelligent scholars of the arcane arts.

To this end, I have written all my world-breaking secrets in the common tongue and have endeavored to produce an audio record so as to increase their accessibility.

What's the worst that can happen?

- Sigmung Sagely, the Enabler.

 

[MarkB]

I get how you're interpreting the spell, but personally I'd rule that you can cast this over text already written. I don't see the need to use a restrictive interpretation of what is already a bit of a niche spell.

I don't see how it can be interpreted any other way. The material component is ink that is consumed in the spell's casting, therefore writing the text happens as part of the spell.