D&D 5E A Wizard without a spell book...........

[MechaPilot]

It's fine for a couple encounters. Just don't keep him without a spellbook for too long. It's a serious limitation on the class, which is designed to be flexible in spell preparation. Besides, when he levels up, how would he gain and prepare new spells, which is a core feature of the class?

So a good rule of thumb is that the character should get his spellbook back by the time he levels up.

I had to look into wizards without spellbooks for a homebrew setting where writing and literacy are nearly non-existent; and I agree that it's a very serious limitation as the character grows.

 

[jgsugden]

I had to look into wizards without spellbooks for a homebrew setting where writing and literacy are nearly non-existent; and I agree that it's a very serious limitation as the character grows.

You can get around the limitation by making the wizard the spellbook - the spells are prepared from symbol tattoos on his skin rather than spells written in a book. It works.

 

[cbwjm]

You can get around the limitation by making the wizard the spellbook - the spells are prepared from symbol tattoos on his skin rather than spells written in a book. It works.

Something else that springs to mind is the Incan talking knots. I think they'd make for an interesting spellbook.