How to lower spellbook size/cost (some ranting then actual ideas)

[FoxWander]

This post was prompted by one simple thought- why the heck is writing spells so expensive? This Order of the Stick strip, #306, Power Word: Annoy illustrates exactly what I'm talking about. Specifically the following:

• Size- Every spell is one page per spell level. The simplest cantrip is one whole page, while, as illustrated in the comic, a one-word 9th level spell (power word: kill) takes up nine pages! Why does a spellbook require one-page per spell level when a scroll can hold ANY spell on ONE sheet? To make it even more ridiculous, copying a 9th level spell from a scroll into your spell book suddenly makes it use up 8 more pages!! It has to be the same info if you can copy it into your book- why all the extra pages?
• Cost- 100gp per PAGE?!?! A 1st level SCROLL is only 25gp, 2nd level scrolls are 150gp.
• Time- 24 hours to scribe a single spell. Same thing as above- the simplest cantrip or a ONE-WORD spell = 24 hours.

Why? No other core-class but Wizard has to invest so much just to perform the main function of their class. A 20th level wizard, just to have ALL the spells they can cast in one day, will have to have two spellbooks which will have cost 18,430gp and taken 40 days of scribing! (Actually it's 19,930gp and 55 days total- wizard's start with ALL the cantrips, that's 15 more than they can cast at 20th level, but they'd still be in the spellbook!) Sure a 20th level fighter will have "spent" gobs more on magic swords, armor and what not, but that goes for ANY high level character. Wizards have to spend almost 20K throughout their career just to BE a wizard!

I'm sure most will agree that it's ridiculous. After all it's probably one of the most "hand-waved" away rules I've ever encountered. So why, if most DMs never even bother with it anyway, should it bother me in the first place? Because it IS ignored so often. If a rule is almost universally ignored because it's inherently stupid, shouldn't that rule just be changed? At least to something that makes more since?

Here are a few of my ideas-

• Get rid of the high cost. What's so special about "spell writing" ink anyway? It's not like it's creating a magical effect. You can't cast the spell directly from the spellbook. A spellbook is just notations about HOW to cast the spell- it's the power of the wizard that supplies the magic. So why the special ink? No reason that I can think of. Normal ink off the equipment list is 8gp a bottle. That should work well enough. Sure if you want 'pretty ink' or special colors, that'll cost more, but that should be personal preference- not a requirement to scribe the spell in the first place. Heck, even requiring "masterwork ink" at 58gp a pop would be better. One vial of ink should still last you for plenty of writing.
  
• Cut down the size. Maybe the spells size should be tied to how long it takes to cast. Afterall, if it's harder to cast it should be more complicated written down also. Say, 1 standard action or less = 1 page, 1 round to cast = 2 pages, minutes to cast = 4 pages, 1 hour or more = 10 pages. Sure it'd make figuring out the length of spellbook complicated, but why would you need to figure out how long the book is anyway- if you follow my first point you're not being charged per page anyway. But this at least would make since on a cpmlicated spell = longer spell basis. Or just use One page per spell, since you can fit it all on one page for a scroll.
  
• The time to scribe = 1 hour per spell level minus 1 hour per point of Intelligence bonus, to a minimum of one hour. It gives you another perk for being smart and gives you a logical system in case "scribing time" ever becomes an issue.
  
• Allow feats or skill use to effect spellbooks...
  - If you don't like '1 page/spell just like a scroll' then perhaps a feat that duplicates the Geometer Prc's Book of Geometry ability- it gives you 1 page spells no matter how complicated AND only you can read them, in case you're paranoid about you're book being stolen.
  - Allow a spellcraft check to write your spells in code, then it's your check result + the spell's level to try and decipher it. Again, this is for the paranoid folks, or just for DMs who want to make a "DaVinci" style spellbook.
  - Make a craft:calligraphy check to write your spells even smaller. You can make a truly travel-sized spellbook but you might need a magnifying glass to read it.

These are just off the top of my head. Anybody else have anything along these lines? Do you follow all the spell scribing rules from the books in your gaming group?

Sorry for ranting a bit. But I play wizards a lot, and it really bugs me how unecessarily complicated they make it. Don't get me started on the 8-hours of rest nonsense.

 

[FoxWander]

Oops! I meant to post this in the House Rules forum where it obviously belongs. Could one of you nice Moderator's move it for me please? Or should I delete it all and re-post there?

Sorry!

 

[Jack Simth]

A couple of things you're forgetting.....

The Wizard gets two spells/level free of charge. The only ones he has to pay scribing costs on are those he finds - and, at 20th, he'll have four or more spells per spell level (at 20th, it's (up to) 8 9th, 4 8th, 4 7th, 4 6th, 4 5th, 4 4th, 4 3rd, 4 2nd, and 5+initial Intelligence Bonus 1st level spells, + all cantrips, free as class abilities). To fill each spell slot with a completely different spell is possible without spending much.

Cutting down the amount a Wizard needs to spend on a particular aspect of the character is a power up for Wizards. Wizards are already commonly considered one of the most powerful classes in the game. Class balance would suggest it's probably a good idea to put some extra costs involved in being a Wizard if you're going to get rid of some like this.

Flavorwise, as for why Power Word Blind might take up seven pages.....
Sure, it's one word. But if you have Spell Mastery(Power Word Blind), you STILL can't cast it as much as you like. Those seven pages, while they also include the proper pronunciation of the word, also cover several minutes of preparations in the morning to properly and safely gather the energies you're putting into the Word, set out to control all this power you're unleashing (it's a single word - where are you specifying your target in that?), and so on.

Flavorwise, as for why a spell in a spellbook takes up more space than a spell in a scroll.....
The spellbook is an instruction manual, possibly with some form of tools included on the page for properly channeling the spell energies into place (hence special inks - the Wizard is actually sitting there painting circutboards with magically conductive inks, magically non-conductive inks, and one-way inks; when copying the spell into another spellbook, the tools are needed all over again for it to actually be used; spellcraft checks to prepare are to figure out exactly where you need to apply magical energy to get the desired result, and how to properly pick the resulting energy packet up from the final page to carry it with you - this also could cover why it takes at least fifteen minutes to prepare a spell, even though a 20th level Wizard can prepare 40-60 spells in an hour - the pages are "running" seperately with energy the Wizard applied, and always take at least 15 minutes to run to completion). A scroll is more like a microwaveable dinner. A skilled chef, eating it slowly, can figure out how to duplicate it, and write it down. Anyone who can apply enough heat (spellcaster level - or caster level check, for higher-level scrolls) who knows about how it's supposed to go (on class list) can get it into the edible range (cast it), after reading the instructions (with either Read Magic or a Spellcraft check). Everything's already right there - there's nothing to gather (doesn't use up a spell slot), already processed (no need to prepare to cast a spell off of a scroll if you already have the scroll), just waiting to be set off (from the "magic circutry" example, it's all been run and gathered, and the scroll has just enough on it to tell someone who's familiar with it exactly how this one is designed to be set off, and to hold onto the packet that was prepared by the scroll's scriber).

After all, a Wizard is described (3.5, at least) as mostly casting the spells during his preparation time.....

 

[Rhun]

Blessed Book:

Blessed Book
This well-made tome is always of small size, typically no more than 12 inches tall, 8 inches wide, and 1 inch thick. All such books are durable, waterproof, bound with iron overlaid with silver, and locked.

A wizard can fill the 1,000 pages of a blessed book with spells without paying the 100 gp per page material cost. This book is never found as randomly generated treasure with spells already inscribed in it.

Moderate transmutation; CL 7th; Craft Wondrous Item, secret page; Price 12,500 gp;Weight 1 lb.

 

[Stalker0]

Wizard costs are just fine as is. they get 2 spelsl per level, and can turn money directly into power by adding more spells to their book. I wish as a fighter I could spend money and get more feats

And remember that power word kill is not a single word spell, the active casting of it is a single word. Preparing spells often involves a lot of "pre-casting"...gathering the energies and so forth. It isn't until you cast the spell that the energy gets released.

 

[Li Shenron]

I generally think that the spellbook rules are too complicated compared with the fun of using them, and they should be cut in some way.

The thing which I think it works is however the idea that any Wizard has a guaranteed minimum of spells to learn in a 20-levels career (41+Int spells plus cantrips) but has a class "feature" that allows him to go beyond that amount. Having a COST to learning extra spells makes it a CHOICE, if it was free it would not be a choice, but only a matter of how kind is the DM in letting you find spells to scribe.

That cost doesn't have to be money tho, it could be time (for research & experiments) or even something else.

However I don't like how the rules have decided to "explain" the cost in terms of scribing. This has so many annoying consequences to the game with regards to spellbooks, so many that really most DM just forget about the spellbook and don't enforce the RAW at all! When such a thing happens it means that the RAW is really bad.

 

[IceFractal]

Sure, spellcasters can be powerful - that doesn't make the spellbook a good balancing factor. Let's take a look at the Cleric and Druid - not only do they not have to spend money or time on a spellbook - they get all their spells automatically. New book comes out and the DM approves it? Boom, they have more spells available the very next day. Meanwhile the Wizard is spending the whole week tracking down somebody to learn "Shadow Evocation" from and haggling with them.

And as far as the two spells a level go - those are not a "baseline", those are an emergency measure for Wizards that gain levels out in the wilderness, so they at least have something to use their new slots on until they hit town. If you actually stuck with just the free spells, you'd have less spells than a Sorcerer, and not even be spontaneous!

 

[FoxWander]

I generally think that the spellbook rules are too complicated compared with the fun of using them, and they should be cut in some way.

That's the gist of it right there! It gets in the way of the fun.

The power of a wizard is balanced against the other classes by their hit points, attacks and weapon selection. Gouging them in time and money on the basic tool of thier class just seems excessive. I'm not proposing getting RID of spellbooks all together, I'm just saying they shouldn't be any harder or more expenxsive to maintain than a regular, though very nice, book. Or any other class's core "tools of the trade", like the rogue's lockpicks or the cleric's holy symbol. After a rogue or a cleric pays for thier tools- that's it. No more expensive upkeep. They don't have to pay a few hundred gold to get them 'shined up' when they gain a level so they'll still be useful.

Of course, wizards should have to pay for any new spells they acquire at the guild or ye olde magic shop. That's to be expected, since spell knowledge is a valuable commodity. A new spell should have a cost commensurate with it's rarity or usefulness or whatever. It's just the ridiculous cost, time and space involved with scribing them into the spellbook that I have a problem with.

Look at it this way- a fighter goes up a level and trades in his old sword for a spiffy new magic one, and it cost him a bundle. Does he then have to pay through the nose for a special polishing kit and a scabbard made 'just so' and then spend 24 hours polishing the thing and making it fit in the special scabbard? No, he runs back to the dungeon and keeps on hacking things up! Meanwhile, that's exactly what's happening to the wizard (the time and extra cost- not the being hacked up). He's gonna lose two days scribing his free spells into his book, and then however many more days PLUS 100 gold per page, scribing any extra spells he might want in addition to the freebies (and in every game, after a while, the freebies just aren't enough). That's not counting whatever days he has to spend FINDING any extra spells or the cost of ATTAINING those spells.

Again, the finding and attaining of new spells, I don't have a problem with. Why do you think wizards view every library as as much a treasure trove as any dragon's hoard? But when you need a small hoard yourself, just to write them in your book (not to mention a few weeks vacation), finding an enemies spellbook can be as annoying as it is joyous. And finding "treasure" should never be 'annoying'.

 

[Nadaka]

You guys complaining about spellbooks should reread the descriptions again.

The 2 free spells / level that a wizard gets cost no gold, and no time to scribe. They are assumed to have been worked on as the character levels.

You don't have to spend time and gold to keep your spellbook functional, only to upgrade it beyond the FREE UPGRADES you already get. Look at it this way, does a fighter get a FREE magic weapon/armor upgrade every time he levels up? NO! A wizard is allowed more than 1 50 page spellbook. You can have any number, so the page limitation is hardly an issue if your strength is higher than 5. When you add to that the spells(non-core)/items that allow the wizard to bypass the time/gp/page count and the arguement becomes transperent and pointless.

The arguement has also been made that 2 spells per level of a wizard means that a sorcerer will have more spells known eventually. This is incorrect as well. The following chart is the combination of sorcerers spells known and the spells automatically scribed in a wizards spellbook. As it clearly demonstrates, sorcerers never have an advantage at any spell level except level 2, and that is only at level 11+, while the wizard mantains a lead or tie at every other spell level. Note that if the wizard spent one of his 3rd - 7th level spells scribing a spell of 1 level lower, even that advantage would fall to the wizard. Now look at the totals, it clearly demonstrates that they never, ever fall behind the sorcerer in spells known/scibed. And if you were to compare spell levels known/scribed the advantage would fall even farther in favor of the wizard who has a higher number of the highest levels of spells known at each level.

lvl	w1	s1	w2	s2	w3	s3	w4	s4	w5	s5	w6	s6	w7	s7	w8	s8	w9	s9	wscribed	sknown
1	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2
2	5	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	2
3	5	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	3
4	5	3	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	4
5	5	4	4	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	6
6	5	4	4	2	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	7
7	5	5	4	3	4	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	10
8	5	5	4	3	4	2	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	11
9	5	5	4	4	4	3	4	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	14
10	5	5	4	4	4	3	4	2	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	21	15
11	5	5	4	5	4	4	4	3	4	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	23	19
12	5	5	4	5	4	4	4	3	4	2	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	25	20
13	5	5	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	27	23
14	5	5	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	2	4	1	0	0	0	0	29	24
15	5	5	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	2	2	0	0	0	31	27
16	5	5	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	2	4	1	0	0	33	28
17	5	5	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	4	2	2	0	35	30
18	5	5	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	4	2	4	1	37	31
19	5	5	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	4	3	6	2	39	33
20	5	5	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	4	3	8	3	41	34

 

[GreatLemur]

Flavorwise, as for why a spell in a spellbook takes up more space than a spell in a scroll.....
The spellbook is an instruction manual, possibly with some form of tools included on the page for properly channeling the spell energies into place (hence special inks - the Wizard is actually sitting there painting circutboards with magically conductive inks, magically non-conductive inks, and one-way inks; when copying the spell into another spellbook, the tools are needed all over again for it to actually be used; spellcraft checks to prepare are to figure out exactly where you need to apply magical energy to get the desired result, and how to properly pick the resulting energy packet up from the final page to carry it with you - this also could cover why it takes at least fifteen minutes to prepare a spell, even though a 20th level Wizard can prepare 40-60 spells in an hour - the pages are "running" seperately with energy the Wizard applied, and always take at least 15 minutes to run to completion). A scroll is more like a microwaveable dinner. A skilled chef, eating it slowly, can figure out how to duplicate it, and write it down. Anyone who can apply enough heat (spellcaster level - or caster level check, for higher-level scrolls) who knows about how it's supposed to go (on class list) can get it into the edible range (cast it), after reading the instructions (with either Read Magic or a Spellcraft check). Everything's already right there - there's nothing to gather (doesn't use up a spell slot), already processed (no need to prepare to cast a spell off of a scroll if you already have the scroll), just waiting to be set off (from the "magic circutry" example, it's all been run and gathered, and the scroll has just enough on it to tell someone who's familiar with it exactly how this one is designed to be set off, and to hold onto the packet that was prepared by the scroll's scriber).

That's an extremely and flavorful explanation for the functioning of spellbooks, and I desperately wish they'd actually described it that way in the PHB (just like I wish they'd said that Wizards pre-cast their spells in the morning and then trigger them in the field, rather than talking about memorization or vague "preparation").

On the subject of scrolls, I'd clarify them further by pointing out that a scroll is a magical item. That text written on it isn't the full instructions for a spell; it just explains what the spell is and gives some info on how to trigger the spell that's already been pre-cast into the scroll. So then we can argue that the time and failure chance in transferring a spell from a scroll to a spellbook doesn't just represent the rote copying of the scroll's visible text to the book's pages, but the mystical analysis of the actual, pre-cast spell that's inside the scroll, and its physical recreation as "magic circuitry".

Of course, all of this is just apologism, rationalizing rules that don't really explain a whole lot, and are kind of a pain in the ass in practice.

Personally, I think that the expense of spellbook maintenance isn't so bad, but the time consumed and the chance of failure always seemed a bit harsh. Discovering a horde of magical knowledge in the field would just be a hell of a lot more fun if the Wizard could simply cross a few bottles of ink off his inventory and use the new spells the next day. I would advocate relaxing these restrictions . . . but also eliminating the free spells learned each level. There are enough ways to obtain new spells without having them appear out of nowhere.

As an afterthought, I'd also say that decreasing the time sink of learning new spells opens the door for maliciously-mislabeled spells equivalent to trapped or cursed itemes. Maybe that lich the party just killed included a small revenge contingency in his spellbook, like a Cloudkill spell with a range of 0, or a Summon Monster IX that doesn't let you control what you call. Naturally, a spellcraft check against an appropriate DC would detect such flaws.