D&D 5E How much space (pages) does a spell use up in a Wizard's spellbook in 5th edition?

[delericho]

for what it's worth I didn't run into any problems removing the gold cost with scribing & mostly handwaved the time.

Yeah, I wouldn't expect that to cause any real problems - there's so little to spend money on in 5e that I wouldn't expect that to be a real limitation most of the time anyway.

That said, what I was suggesting was actually making it impossible to copy spells from one book to another. If you wanted access to Mordenkainen's Hound (or whatever), you would have to capture and keep a spellbook from one of M's apprentices - you can't just pay to make your own copy.

 

[tetrasodium]

Yeah, I wouldn't expect that to cause any real problems - there's so little to spend money on in 5e that I wouldn't expect that to be a real limitation most of the time anyway.

That said, what I was suggesting was actually making it impossible to copy spells from one book to another. If you wanted access to Mordenkainen's Hound (or whatever), you would have to capture and keep a spellbook from one of M's apprentices - you can't just pay to make your own copy.

I think that would be a mess, one of those things that sounds better than it is. Think back to the spellbooks players find. Most of them are trash & rarely have spells more than maybe one slot level above whatever the group has now. It would create a lot of bookkeeping with no actual value or benefit to it

 

[rmcoen]

I'd just say that the wizard in question needs to spend a little downtime figuring out the notes, then scribes the result into his own book. Like copying someone's notes from class - they don't always take the same notes about same things you would, so you have to sorta fill-in-the-blanks.

 

[delericho]

I think that would be a mess, one of those things that sounds better than it is. Think back to the spellbooks players find. Most of them are trash & rarely have spells more than maybe one slot level above whatever the group has now. It would create a lot of bookkeeping with no actual value or benefit to it

Yeah, I suspect you're right, which is one of the reasons I never tried it. I like the idea of the flavour it should impart, but worry about the hassle it's likely to cause.

 

[aco175]

I mostly handwave this in 5e. Partly since not many of my players have chosen to play a wizard and play the other casters. Also, I wonder what happens to the spell when you gain a level and choose another spell to replace one of yours. I never liked mush of the explanations I got on that. If I was tracking it, I would go with 1 page/level since that is what it has been for a while.

I also have some problem with a traveling book over a home tome. a first level wizard is on his own and has no home base to keep his tome. I like the idea of a 20th level NPC having a library with books and several spellbooks and such. Just not for PCs. Finding spellbooks has been one way that wizards were rewarded with something similar to magic items, but recent editions tend to reward casters with new spells automatically, so that is less of a boon.

I do also like to have spellbook additions that are more minor magic in effect. Books that are immune to fire and such or protect from bugs and water are ok. Portable books that are stored in extra-dimensional pockets such as a ring compartment or tattoo. adding elements such as calling your book from a safe place or to your hand it stolen are added as time goes on. I try to keep it from being a gold sink for the wizard and use them as rewards.

 

[cbwjm]

No idea which edition I read this in, but I recall reading that spells took up a number of pages equal to the spells level + 1d6. I think currently I'd say 1 page/level, though since we don't really get into super high levels spellbooks will rarely if ever fill up.

 

[R_J_K75]

No idea which edition I read this in, but I recall reading that spells took up a number of pages equal to the spells level + 1d6. I think currently I'd say 1 page/level, though since we don't really get into super high levels spellbooks will rarely if ever fill up.

2E Im pretty sure it was in, I was just going to bring this up. We dont bother with this anymore but if we did this would be my preferred method.

 

[rmcoen]

I started to write up some complicated rules for this, with d6s, extra dice if it wasn't your spell, subtracting INT mods... and then I realized the only "fun" to be had there was in writing the rules. Instead, I left the basic rules for campaign at "1 page per spell level, 1 10-minute break during scribing per INT mod, can't benefit from a Rest (short or long) while scribing".

 

[The inventor of gunomancy]

I can't find any information on how many pages a spell of a particular level takes up in a Wizard's spellbook. It doesn't seem to give that information, either in the sidebar on spellbooks or anywhere else! Is this info somewhere in the PH or DMG, or did WOTC screw up and leave it out? Should I go by what it says in my 2nd or 3rd edition books... the info is there? Has this been given an official update or errata anywhere?

The order of scribes wizard can transcribe a spell by spending 2 minutes per spell level. So how fast can a master scribe write what they see?

 

[ezo]

How many pages in a spellbook does it take for "Raise Thread"???