How big can a spellbook get?

[Kershek]

How many pages would you "realistically" allow for a spellbook? 150? 200?

 

[Bonedagger]

I believe that the standard answer is a 100 pages.

But since it doesn't really need to be a "book", since it's magical and since it depends on the quality of the book I guess it depends on your imagination.

A: "You see... I really love my spell"book"... I have been working on it for years... I'm very proud of it..."

B: "Why do you always get so "horny" about your spellbook when we are at this lookout? Why don't you just get the damn thing so we can move on in our adventure?"

A: "Well.. I would like that but..."

B: "Yes?"

A: "But this lookout... This big rock. It's... It IS my spellbook!"

B: "What?!?"

A: "Yes. What you so boldly have refered to as "cavepaintings" is actually my magical writings"

B: "Oh dear..."

 

[dvvega]

Bonedagger is correct .... and he's also explained why the great Witchdoctor Wizards of our own Neanderthals died out quickly when flood forced them to leave their caves. Those that would not leave their precious spell paintings were drowned.

 

[Kershek]

I was mainly wondering what people thought about spellcasters who wanted to add more than 100 pages to their spellbooks.

 

[Broken Fang]

Isn't that when they go down to the local printing press (Kinko's) and have it rebound?

 

[Kershek]

Yes, of course you can rebind it. You think you should be able to see 300 pages of vellum in it?

 

[dvvega]

If you increase the book's size, don't forget to increase the encumbrance and volume taken up. Certainly the covers take up most of the room, however it's still a bulky item.

 

[Painfully]

Well, I have always been partial to those really HUGE (looks like a storm giant might use it) books that use a book stand as wide as 7 dwarves

And since the pages are so big you can doodle in the margins of the page with scenes of baddies you killed using your super-sized magic tome. And the really great thing is nobody can pickpocket it from you

You could magically enlarge a normal-sized book, scribe your stuff, and then shrink the book to carry around a pocket edition too

**edit**

SIZE DOES MATTER! just dont tell the little people.

 

[Xeriar]

Seriously, go grab 50 pieces of printing paper. That is not a book.

I generally refer to travelling spellbooks as haing up to 200 pages (which would weigh five pounds), and tomes having up to 2,000 pages (50...).

Thinking of huge works such as the Bible or the Vedas, a 100-page limit seems a little silly.

 

[Oni]

One thing to remember based on the technological level of most campaigns is that the pages of a spellbook would be much heavier, and much, much thicker than some piece of cheap printing paper. So while a spellbook could really be anysize, there are limits to what lies in the realms of the practicle.