Spell Book Worth

[Rel]

I like the Magic of Faerun rule. 1 tenday+ in time and a DC 25 spellcraft check to understand it.

The only problem I have with that rule is (if I understand it correctly) the DC is 25+Spell Level of the Highest Level Spell in the book. So if I find a spellbook with five 1st level spells and one 9th level spell, that would be a DC of 34. But...*rip* without that 9th level spell, the DC is now 26. And what happens to those pages that I ripped out? After I gain a few ranks of Spellcraft, I'll just use Mending to put them back in again and retry the Spellcraft Check. Or just keep the pages in a scroll tube and treat them as their own spell book.

Perhaps (as Hong would say) I shouldn't think so hard about D&D.

 

[BuddyRich]

I think its a straight up 25 DC, I don't have the book infront of me so I am likely wrong.

 

[Thanee]

A spellbook isn't worth much.

The main cost for getting new spells comes from scribing them, not aquiring them.

So what is the cost to aquire a new spell?

We usually do it by sharing equally powerful spells with other trustworthy wizards we meet on our journeys. One could buy a scroll, but that's probably the high end of the cost. Maybe the cost is about equal to one casting of a spell of the spell's level (see PHB for statistics on that). There is no real cost given for this, but it's probably not so high for the more common spells.

If there were some not so common spells in there, that would be another matter entirely, of course!

Bye
Thanee

 

[Stalker0]

I think the best thing you could would be to rent it out to NPCS who would like to obtain the spells. Basically an x gold amount per day or something to that effect.

While not a lot of money, over time it could be very profittable, and you have a stable source of income to continue adding spells to your spellbook.

 

[bret]

I would value it based on the cost to cast a spell (without any addition for costly material components), under the assumption that this would be about the same as a friendly mage would charge for access to the spell.

Only new cantrips would have any value. Common first level spells should also be reduced in value because so many mages would have them already.

Modify cost by rarity. A unique spell would be worth quite a bit of money.

Lastly, if they have any 'enhancements' to the book itself (fireproof, water resistent, etc) that would modify the value. A book that was highly protected but contained worthless spells is still valueable because you can always use Erase on the spells you don't want or care about.

The Forgotten Realms rules for mastering a spellbook would increase the value of a spellbook. It would allow you to use a captured spellbook with full efficiency.

 

[Kraedin]

Well, going by how everything else in D&D is priced, it would be number of pages * 200. (Twice the cost to create.)

Of course, that's absurd, which is why I eschew scribing costs in my campaign. Much easier that way, and I can destroy spellbooks without being the world's biggest bastard.

 

[Pax]

There's a rule someplace-- FRCS, I think-- that lets you "master" another wizard's spellbook. You need to study the book for a certain amount of time, and meet a certain Spellcraft DC. After you succeed, you can prepare spells from that spellbook as if it were your own.

That rule is located in the Magic of Faerun book.

This is of course an optional mechanic. Like many FRCS rules, this makes wizards even more powerful, as they can more easily "loot" spells from captured spellbooks.

If this rule is in effect, spellbooks become far more valuable on the open market, because the buyer need not pay to re-scribe the spells into his own book. That means a book is worth nearly as much as the original owner paid in scribing costs.

With the rule, I'd say a spellbook was worth, for resale, 1/3 it's total cost-to-produce; increase this by the full research value of any unique spells, or especially rare-and-desirable spells, contained therein. Also add in 1/2 the value of the basic book itself (especially if using those spellbook-construction rules also found in Magic of Ferun).

Without the rule for mastering foreign spellbooks, I'd cut it to 1/10 the scribing costs, 3/4 the research cost for unique/ultrarare spells, and 1/2 the cost of the physical book itself.

Presupposing this is a non-FR campaign that still, nonetheless, allows some access to FRCS / MoF material, and a spellbook of a 7th level wizard (INT 16, so 8 1st, 4 2d, 4 3d, and 2 4th level spells; cantrip omitted), one of which is the "unique" spell, Thunderlance (researched by the prior owner, otherwise identical to the FRCS spell of the same name). The length of the book is 20 pages, so the scribing cost would be 2000 gold; 1/3 of that is roughly 670gp. The cost to research a 4th level spell is 4000gp; let's assume the book itself is worth 500gp due to superior materials and craftsmanship; half of that is 250. Thus, the sale value of the book woudl be (670+4000+250 =) 4920gp.

Without the rule for mastering others' spellbooks, the cost woudl instead be (200 + 3000 + 250 =) 3,450gp.

Notice, in both cases, the lion's share of the value is because the spellbook contains a rare or unique spell (Thunderlance being largely unknown in that setting).

Absenting that sort of affair, the books would be worth 920gp (with mastering of others' spellbooks), or 450gp (without).

Thus, spellbooks with several rare or unique spells would fetch a high price indeed. Generic spellbooks with common spells, however, would fetch a POOR price. Cantrips, by the by, woudl be worth diddly ... every apprentice would have workbooks FULL of cantrips, making them (comparatively) a "dime a dozen" affair.

 

[vic20]

Here is a little rant for your consideration:

I think that the "Must scribe into your own spellbook before you can use a spell" rule is the worst rule in the game (it certainly is the one I like the least personally). It makes found spellbooks difficult to price for the GM and it can make them worthless to the players.

<...>

By using the house rule that lets you use a captured spellbook by just spending the time to "understand" the spells in it, you give the Wizard a chance to set up a backup spellbook. It may not have all the spells in it that he would prefer to have, but at least it is something to limp along on if something happens to his primary book. Which means I don't feel compelled to pull punches when I'm the DM.

Hey Rel-

Thanks for the rant!

I like the simplicity of your solution, especially in light of your point regarding the preciousness of the spellbook.

Anybody think that this would be unbalancing? Specifics?

 

[Death]

I know, that scribing for free or taking over other wizard's spellbooks is easier for players, but that kind of situation is in my opinion created to balance a wizard with sorcerer. Otherwise wizards would have all spells possible in their spellbooks + equipment for character level. Now wizards have to choose, which spell they really want and scribe it in the spellbook. I would allow the rule from MoF about taking over spellbooks with spellcraft. There can be many different spellbooks, which contain just one useful spell for wizard, but try to carry them all!

 

[Thanee]

I like the simplicity of your solution, especially in light of your point regarding the preciousness of the spellbook.

Anybody think that this would be unbalancing? Specifics?

Actually, that house rule is pretty much the same as the rule from Magic of Faerûn, as I understand it.

So, I'd just use that (we do), since it has a certain official touch to it.

But we also dropped the scribing cost for spells to one tenth the original figure as a house rule, just because there is absolutely no reason for the high cost. Balance? Not really! A wizard will have all the really good spells with the 2 free spells per level anyways. Putting a high cost on scribing spells will just negate the wizard's versatility when it comes to spell selection and you will rarely see wizard's with less-than-optimum spells prepared. Why should I pay thousands of gold pieces for a few spells, which I know I will almost never use, when I can get decent magic items instead?

Bye
Thanee