el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
Actually, this works for other editions of D&D beyond 5E as well.
Essentially it comes down to this. . . any spell with a name attached is a rare spell and is not available as a spell that a PC can simply choose when they go up a level. In other words, these spells can only be found in-game. Of course, this mean the DM has to be fair-minded in littering adventures with scrolls or spell books with some of these spells.
Presumably all spells were once associated with particular wizards and became more common over time, so ones with names still attached are simply still not as common.
This also provides an opportunity for characters to seek out some of these spells or research their own versions of them, if your players are into that kind of thing.
Finally, it also makes possible to make other spells a little harder to get. Want to delay access to Rope Trick? Call it Rary's Rope Trick. Think fireball is too powerful for its level but too weak to go up a level? Call it Fustrea's Fireball. And so on. . .
Don't want your group to have easy access Leomund's Tiny Hut? Make them wait to find it. Want to give them a motive for exploring a particular place, perhaps the wizard Bigby is said to have squirreled away a book holding his various "Hand" spells (I know they were collapsed in 5E, but there are various other versions out there to be converted). Want to give a villainous homebrew NPC some more chutzpah? Name some spells after them - perhaps as a way to introduce spells from beyond the core books.
I have already started doing this my own games and it works.
Essentially it comes down to this. . . any spell with a name attached is a rare spell and is not available as a spell that a PC can simply choose when they go up a level. In other words, these spells can only be found in-game. Of course, this mean the DM has to be fair-minded in littering adventures with scrolls or spell books with some of these spells.
Presumably all spells were once associated with particular wizards and became more common over time, so ones with names still attached are simply still not as common.
This also provides an opportunity for characters to seek out some of these spells or research their own versions of them, if your players are into that kind of thing.
Finally, it also makes possible to make other spells a little harder to get. Want to delay access to Rope Trick? Call it Rary's Rope Trick. Think fireball is too powerful for its level but too weak to go up a level? Call it Fustrea's Fireball. And so on. . .
Don't want your group to have easy access Leomund's Tiny Hut? Make them wait to find it. Want to give them a motive for exploring a particular place, perhaps the wizard Bigby is said to have squirreled away a book holding his various "Hand" spells (I know they were collapsed in 5E, but there are various other versions out there to be converted). Want to give a villainous homebrew NPC some more chutzpah? Name some spells after them - perhaps as a way to introduce spells from beyond the core books.
I have already started doing this my own games and it works.