Boccob's Blessed Book

[Tyrrell]

How prohibitive are the scribing costs, really? I mean, given the amount of gold a character is supposed to have at a certain level, will a wizard end up spending too much money scribing spells?

It costs 100gp per page to scribe a spell in a book. Spells take up a number of pages equal to twice their level (1 page for level 0 spells)

so
level / cost
0/100
1/200
2/400
3/600
4/800
5/1000
6/1200
7/1400
8/1600
9/1800

I know that this has always been a major expense for the wizard that I play (who just made level 12).

 

[IceBear]

Don't forget that the wizard gets 2 free spells each time he levels too, so that helps offset it.

IceBear

 

[Bastoche]

I stand corrected, 2 pages per level.

So with approx 1 500 levels, it needs 3 000 pages, so that would make it 3 000 000 gp.

 

[Bastoche]

That's 46 spell in an entire career with int 16 at level 1

 

[Shard O'Glase]

I've found it to be a big hit levels 1-10ish. If you take 3 extra spells per spell level at levels 1-10 roughly 1/2 your cash goes to scribing scrolls.(and 3 extra spells a spell level isn't a ton of spells, it isn't even tons more than a sors known spells) Cash that might be better speant on bracers of armor or other magic items that could dave your life. After level 10 the expected money jumps up fairly quickly and it becomes less of a GP issue and much more of a time issue.

 

[Bastoche]

nevermind...

 

[RyanL]

In my eyes, the other real advantage of a wizard over sorcerer (besides flexibility) is the free feats. However, they must be metamagic feats (or item creation, etc.), and sorcerers seem to get more mileage out of those metamagic feats.

I used to think sorcerers weren't very good compared to wizards, but now I'm beginning to see the value of the sorcerer.

-Ryan

 

[Shard O'Glase]

the free feats are why I usually play the wizard. Feats and Skills= customization. The wizard just seems easier to customize to be the character I envision because of this.

 

[RyanL]

My DM (Caliber) just pointed out that you can make a Spellcraft check at Spell Level + 15 to prepare a spell from another wizard's spellbook. If you have enough ranks in Spellcraft, this can alleviate quite a bit of the scribing burden.

-Ryan

 

[IceBear]

My DM (Caliber) just pointed out that you can make a Spellcraft check at Spell Level + 15 to prepare a spell from another wizard's spellbook. If you have enough ranks in Spellcraft, this can alleviate quite a bit of the scribing burden.

-Ryan

Only if you have that spell in YOUR spellbook. I think there is a rule in the FRCS (or MoF) that would allow you to prepare spells from another spellbook that you don't already know. I think the DC is 25 + highest level spell in the spellbook.

Here's the quote from the SRD (and I've highlighted the relevant section):

A wizard can use a borrowed spellbook to prepare a spell she already knows and has recorded in her own spellbook, but preparation success is not assured. First, the wizard must decipher the writing in the book (see Arcane Magical Writings, above). Once a spell from another spellcaster's book is deciphered, the reader must make a successful Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell's level) to prepare the spell. If the check succeeds, the wizard can prepare the spell. She must repeat the check to prepare the spell again, no matter how many times she has prepared the spell before. If the check fails, she cannot try to prepare the spell from the same source again until the next day. (However, as explained above, she does not need to repeat a check to decipher the writing.)

IceBear