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Market price for a spell book?
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<blockquote data-quote="steeldragons" data-source="post: 6613677" data-attributes="member: 92511"><p>Based on the guidelines for spellcasting services which cite 10-50gp as a range for a first level spell, I would go with:</p><p></p><p>100gp for the empty spellbook + 30gp per spell level contained therein.</p><p></p><p>So if there are 3 1st level, 3 2nd level and 2 3rd level spells in it, that would be 3 + 6 + 6 = 15 spell levels worth of magic. </p><p></p><p>15 x 30 = 450 </p><p>450 + 100 = 550.</p><p></p><p>They should not take/get less than 550gp total for the book...and other spellcasting NPCs in the game world are going to know that. </p><p></p><p>If you run "lower/rarer magic" world, use the 50gp per spell level. If magic is ubiquitous (or just cuz it makes the math easier), use the 10gp/level.</p><p></p><p>If you want to finely grain it and say that magic becomes more rare as it increases in level (as I personally enjoy), then make it:</p><p> 10gp per spell level X spell level.</p><p></p><p>That is, a 1st level spell will be 10gp. Big woo. A 2nd level spell will be 20gp X 2 = 40gp ...just for 1 2nd level spell. A 3rd level spell would be worth, just on a scroll by itself, 30gp X 3 = 90gp ...and so on. Obviously, depending on the power level of the spells in the book, this could greatly enhance or diminish the overall cost, versus a single set rate per spell level.</p><p></p><p>In which case, our hypothetical book above with 3 1st, 3 2nd and 2 3rd would fetch a solid [10 x 3] 30 + [40 x 3] 120 + [90 x 2] 180 = 330 worth of spells/magic + 100 (book cost) or 430 total. [That seems low to me, so I'd probably be inclined to do 10gp @ 1st, (30gp x2) x2 @ 2nd, (50gp x3) x3 @ 3rd, etc... or something like that.]</p><p></p><p>Of course, then there is the consideration that a spellbook like that, with multiple 1-3rd level spells, could conceivably keep a mage busy for a long time (if not their entire NPC career/lifetime) and/or would supply an apprentice with spells from XP levels 1-5 just in that single volume. In which case the value goes up exponentially, even if the purchasing mage already has a spell or two in there [not that the<em> character</em> would be thinking in such metagame terms, obviously, but the value "in-world" would surely be recognized].</p><p></p><p>So, as a PC, I would start at at least double the calculation...and let the NPC purchaser haggle me down to no less than what the calculation actually is.</p><p></p><p>As the DM, I would explain all of this to the player. Give them the calculation you decide to use. Let them tally it up, search out a buyer, and try to get what they want for it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="steeldragons, post: 6613677, member: 92511"] Based on the guidelines for spellcasting services which cite 10-50gp as a range for a first level spell, I would go with: 100gp for the empty spellbook + 30gp per spell level contained therein. So if there are 3 1st level, 3 2nd level and 2 3rd level spells in it, that would be 3 + 6 + 6 = 15 spell levels worth of magic. 15 x 30 = 450 450 + 100 = 550. They should not take/get less than 550gp total for the book...and other spellcasting NPCs in the game world are going to know that. If you run "lower/rarer magic" world, use the 50gp per spell level. If magic is ubiquitous (or just cuz it makes the math easier), use the 10gp/level. If you want to finely grain it and say that magic becomes more rare as it increases in level (as I personally enjoy), then make it: 10gp per spell level X spell level. That is, a 1st level spell will be 10gp. Big woo. A 2nd level spell will be 20gp X 2 = 40gp ...just for 1 2nd level spell. A 3rd level spell would be worth, just on a scroll by itself, 30gp X 3 = 90gp ...and so on. Obviously, depending on the power level of the spells in the book, this could greatly enhance or diminish the overall cost, versus a single set rate per spell level. In which case, our hypothetical book above with 3 1st, 3 2nd and 2 3rd would fetch a solid [10 x 3] 30 + [40 x 3] 120 + [90 x 2] 180 = 330 worth of spells/magic + 100 (book cost) or 430 total. [That seems low to me, so I'd probably be inclined to do 10gp @ 1st, (30gp x2) x2 @ 2nd, (50gp x3) x3 @ 3rd, etc... or something like that.] Of course, then there is the consideration that a spellbook like that, with multiple 1-3rd level spells, could conceivably keep a mage busy for a long time (if not their entire NPC career/lifetime) and/or would supply an apprentice with spells from XP levels 1-5 just in that single volume. In which case the value goes up exponentially, even if the purchasing mage already has a spell or two in there [not that the[I] character[/I] would be thinking in such metagame terms, obviously, but the value "in-world" would surely be recognized]. So, as a PC, I would start at at least double the calculation...and let the NPC purchaser haggle me down to no less than what the calculation actually is. As the DM, I would explain all of this to the player. Give them the calculation you decide to use. Let them tally it up, search out a buyer, and try to get what they want for it. [/QUOTE]
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