Aura of a spellbook?

[Darren]

This is sort of a rules question, but sort of a general gameplay question too... move it if it needs to be...


Does a wizard's spellbook have a magical aura? If so, what? One for each spell, or one for the entire book? And how would you go about masking the aura(s)?

I'm looking at ways to hide an evil necromancer from common detection. I've got a ring of mind shielding for the necromancer, but I'm not sure about the spellbook. A special item similar to the ring just for the spellbook seems a bit cheesy, and keeping it in a lead box isn't quite an option. I'd like to have a good answer ready if and when a detect spell is used near it, specifically detect evil because of the spells with the evil descriptor it contains.

Of course, if it doesn't have an aura, I don't need to worry about any of this. But this seems somehow "wrong" to me. If I'm wrong about the aura, please feel free to convince me and provide a good explanation or rules reference to give to the players when they ask why they couldn't detect it. Otherwise, ways for a mid-level or higher wizard to hide a spellbook from detection would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Thanee]

Spellbooks have a rather mundane aura.

They are nonmagical.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Pyrex]

I don't think a spellbooks is necessarily contains any magical energy, just like there are no calories in a cookbook.

If you choose to rule that it does have an aura, just cast (Nystul's) Magical Aura on it once a week or so to hide the aura.

 

[Kalothagh]

I have thought about this too, thing is, it's DM's disgression(sp?) I reckon, but personally, I agree with Thanee, if there is an aura, then it would be fairly mundaine. The spells are there, but they're not active unlike a magical item or rune etc.
You'll be able to sense the magic, I suppose, but thats about it, it'll be very weak

 

[Steverooo]

This idea (that spell books have a magical aura) comes from previous editions. Nothing in 3e/3.5e currently supports this idea.

If you still want to use it, just have the covers be made of gold foil... That will mask the aura.

 

[Staffan]

This idea (that spell books have a magical aura) comes from previous editions. Nothing in 3e/3.5e currently supports this idea.

There was nothing magical about it in 2e either. However, many/most high-level wizards use protective spells on their spellbooks, and those might have an aura.

 

[Thanee]

I agree with Thanee, if there is an aura, then it would be fairly mundaine.

I actually meant that there is no aura at all... hence the smilie.

Explanation is the part below that.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Darren]

This seems to be good enough for consensus. I'll go with a cookbook analogy. Thanks.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

I suppose it might be possible for a spellbook to have an aura. Thinking of this reminds me of Charmed. The book has an aura of good that protects evil from laying their hands on it. This could be an additional fee that the creator of the book could pay. I'd refer to Circle of prtection from Good/Evil if you wish to do such a thing.

 

[Darren]

That's an interesting idea, but I was thinking about just an aura that a spellbook may have simply because it contained spells.

I think I got this idea into my head from the rules for copying spells from scrolls into spellbooks... A scroll definitely has an aura, and if a scroll is used to copy a spell into a spellbook, the writing on the scroll disappears, and the aura along with it.

Now, where does the magic that was stored in the scroll go, if not into the spellbook?