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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 823395" data-attributes="member: 3146">I disagree with this. A fighter would be stupid or suicidal not to get magic armor--does that mean there's something wrong? Anyone is stupid or suicidal if they don't have a cloak or vest of resistance. Does that mean there's something wrong? Now it's certainly true that being a "must have" item is one indication that something is broken but being a must have item doesn't by itself make something broken. It's a necessary condition but not a sufficient condition.However, BBB is not a must have item. Not even for wizards.The relevant question is this: when is it stupid not to buy a BBB? Certainly not at 5th level. I'd rather have a cloak of resistance and pearls of power than a BBB. Not at 9th level either. By then you're facing monsters like bodaks and need as good a resistance bonus as you can get. At 12th level, I'd rather give my wizard a +6 headband of intellect than a +4 headband and a BBB.Now by 20th level, it may be that characters have so much money rolling around that there's no significant opportunity cost to buying a BBB. Maybe by 12th level, the opportunity cost is low enough for it to be worthwhile for some wizards. However, it's worth pointing out that, at least for my wizards, the primary attractiveness of BBB would not be "I can scribe as many spells as I want and know twice as many spells as I would otherwise (even though I'll never prepare 50% of them)." Instead, the attraction of BBB would be that it would make it practical to actually have a backup spellbook stored next to my clone. Without BBB, the cost of a backup spellbook is prohibitive. (Trying to make one would mean that a wizard would have very little other than his spellbook and his backup spellbook).However, at most levels I have played wizards at (1st-12th), wizards simply don't use many more spells than they get for free--certainly not enough to justify the cost of a BBB. Unless I want enough spells that it'd cost me 9k to scribe them, there's little reason to buy a BBB (except as a backup spellbook). I have yet to play a wizard who had need for more than 3k in extra spells known.[Edit--removed my incorrect statement about all spells only taking one page in BBB /edit]</blockquote>

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