I don´t get it...

[Asmo]

I don´t get it...

I´m running a campaign with a player that´s new to 3 ed. He´s playing a wizard,and he´s about to add some new spells to his spellbook.

How do I explain that the ink and quill he uses to scribe the spells he gets for free,doesn´t work for spells found on scrolls and from other spellbooks?

I don´t think that 3 ed handles this very well, and I´m not sure how I will proceed with this.

I could let him skip the horrible costs to scribe new spells,but that doesn´t feel good either. There must be some balance between ths sorcerer and wizard class.

To reduce the costs doesn´t solve my problem: why doesn´t his gear work for this new purpose?

(Another problem is that they are in a very remote area ,and they will not leave it anytime soon and there is no chance that he will find anything he need.)

So, how have you dealt with this in your group?

Please give me some advice how to handle this.
Asmo

 

[drnuncheon]

The reason the wizard gets 2 spells/level for free is because he is assumed to be experimenting with and developing his understanding of those spells as he goes along.

Spells copied from other sources, on the other hand, he does not have the intimate knowledge of that he does of the spells he worked out on his own. Because of this, he must copy them exactly, using expensive inks of power and careful diagrams rather than his own notes and reminders.

How's that?

J

 

[Mr Fidgit]

an option from Magic of Faerun:

Mastering a Foreign Spellbook: Instead of laboriously copying each spell of interest from a found spellbook into her own, a wizard may instead make a dedicated effort to master the spellbook's particular ciphers and notations. This process is sometimes referred to as becoming attuned to the spellbook, although it's a matter of time and study, not a mystical process. Mastering a spellbook requires one tenday plus one day per spell contained within, and a Spellcraft check (DC 25 + spell level of the highest-level spell in the book). If the wizard succeeds, she can use the foreign spellbook as her own, requiring no Spellcraft checks to prepare of copy spells for it. If she fails, she cannot retry the attempt to master the book until she gains at least 1 more ranks in Spellcraft.

 

[Asmo]

Thanx for the answers guys!

We did this: the wizard pays 40 gp for a 1 lvl spell , 80 for a 2 lvl spell, 120 for a 3 lvl spell etc..

We felt that going for the "special quill and ink" solution was the only option in the end,but the original cost as stated in the PHB
is to high, so we cut it down a bit.

Sunless Citadel is not a "gold-heavy" adventure, and we figured that the wizard wouldn´t enjoy the game if he feels that he has to sell everything he get his hands on (even if somebody else in the party needs it better),just to pay the scribing costs.

Asmo

 

[dcollins]

The other direction to go in (such as in my campaigns) is to use the variant "Gaining Class Abilities" on DMG p. 42, which assesses training times and costs for each level increase. This way, the wizard is paying for those 2 spells per level, wrapped into their level advancement costs. Hence no disconnect between those spells and others.