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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jack Simth" data-source="post: 3142754" data-attributes="member: 29252">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.....</blockquote>

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