Detect Magic and spellcasters

[Kershek]

An antimagic field does not make a spellbook go blank, nor does it prevent a wizard from preparing spells. Therefore there's nothing inherently magical about the writings in the book.

Where do you get that from?

 

[AuraSeer]

I didn't really "get it" from anywhere; it's the default. The rules list everything that AMF prevents, and spell preparation isn't included.

 

[bret]

A spellbook would register as magical because it has spells inside of it. It would have as many auras as the number of spells.

A cleric symbol would not register as magical unless it was something like a Greater Holy Symbol from Defenders of the Faith.

Unless you have an Arcane Mark, Secret Page, or other active spell on it a spellbook shouldn't detect as magical.

It may have the directions for how to prepare spells inside it, but it doesn't by default have any spells active on it. There is nothing to indicate that a spellbook would radiate magic, and as was pointed out there is nothing that prevents spell preparation inside an AMF.

 

[Kershek]

In the PHB, it says, "To decipher an arcane magical writing (such as a single spell in written form in another's spellbook or on a scroll)...." This tells you that the writing is magical. Therefore, it would be surpressed in an antimagic field and not available during preparation. Antimagic Field says, "an antimagic field suppresses any spell or magical effect used within, brought into, or cast into the area, but does not dispel it."

 

[Conaill]

How would you price an item that can detect arcane spellcasters? Say, I want to give the guards at the city gate an item with which they can check if any arcane casters want to enter the city (so they can notify the Mage's Guild)...

Are there any standard magic items that will do Detect Magic? 1000 gp seems a little cheap perhaps...

 

[AuraSeer]

In the PHB, it says, "To decipher an arcane magical writing (such as a single spell in written form in another's spellbook or on a scroll)...." This tells you that the writing is magical.

That passage says nothing of the sort.

An "arcane magical writing" is something written in the language of arcane magic. It does not imply that the writing itself is inherently magic. (I might write my diary in Draconic, which makes it a "draconic writing," but that doesn't mean my diary is a dragon.)

If you're getting hung up just because the word "magic" in that sentence, note that a word changes significance depending on what other words it's next to. Remember, an "incorporeal touch attack" has nothing to do with a "touch attack."

 

[Kershek]

The sentence I quoted also doesn't differentiate between the writing in a spellbook and writing in a scroll. A scroll definitely radiates a magic aura. Therefore, so do pages in a spellbook. I'm not trying to be difficult - I'm just not convinced in what you're saying.

"Magical writing" means writing that's magical. It's the same magical writing that's on a scroll, which does radiate magic. It seems like a slam dunk to me.

 

[Vanye]

The sentence I quoted also doesn't differentiate between the writing in a spellbook and writing in a scroll. A scroll definitely radiates a magic aura. Therefore, so do pages in a spellbook. I'm not trying to be difficult - I'm just not convinced in what you're saying.

Creating a scroll (or any other magical item) requires
a) a feat (knowledge of how to put magic into a piece of parchment)
b) an expenditure of XP (the magic placed in the parchement)
c) money (the quality materials required to do it properly)

Creating a spellbook requires only c. That seems pretty clear to me that a spellbook is not magical, since it doesn't require a feat to create nor does it cost XP to do so.

 

[AuraSeer]

That particular sentence doesn't distinguish between scrolls and spellbooks, because they use the same Spellcraft DC for interpretation. Sharing a skill DC does not mean they share all other mechanics as well.

It's simply a faulty analogy. You might as well say that because dogs and cats are both furry, and cats are felines, then dogs are also felines. It doesn't logically follow.

Scrolls radiate magic because they're magic items, crafted with an Item Creation feat and the expenditure of XP. Spellbooks are not magic items in that sense, so they don't radiate. Nothing in the rules implies that they have a magic aura for any other reason either.

 

[Kershek]

Creating a spellbook requires only c. That seems pretty clear to me that a spellbook is not magical, since it doesn't require a feat to create nor does it cost XP to do so. [/B]

What does that matter? You can't cast spells out of your spellbook like you can a scroll. Writing into your spellbook is a class feature, not a feat. Apples to oranges.