Spells Gained From Tomes

[Falling Icicle]

Several of the magic tomes have the following property:
"This tome contains two wizard daily [fire, cold, etc] powers. Both powers must be of a level equal to or lower than that of the tome. Choose these powers when you aquire the tome; they cannot be changed later. You can add these powers to your spellbook."

So, i pick up a tome and I get to add two new powers to my spellbook. Okay, that's cool. But do I get to keep those powers in my spellbook forever after, even if I later lose the tome? A strict reading of the rules would seem to say yes. But then, a character could, after obtaining enough tomes, have dozens of extra spells at his disposal! Granted, the character can still only prepare one at a time of each level, so it wouldn't really break the game, but I doubt that was what was intended for these tomes. Or was it?

Now, it would seem to me, that if they really only wanted you to have access to those spells while having the tome, they could have rewritten the property this way: "Treat these spells as being recorded in your spellbook for as long as you have this tome," but even then, nothing stops the character from simply stockpiling tomes (other than the cost). This would simply prevent the "abuse" of the character getting a tome, adding its spells to his book, and then getting rid of the tome.

The thing is, I'm used to playing wizards in past editions where there was no strict limit on how many spells they could have in their book. So the truth is, I'm not really bothered by this. They still have no more powers per day than anybody else.

What do you think?

 

[Siran Dunmorgan]

I think it works exactly the way you expect: the wizard gets to keep the spells that have been copied to her spellbook.

--Siran Dunmorgan

 

[fissionessence]

I think it works exactly the way you expect: the wizard gets to keep the spells that have been copied to her spellbook.

--Siran Dunmorgan

Hm. That does seem to be the correct RAW interpretation. However, I'd thought of the spells as being recorded in the tome itself, and simply described as being in the spellbook for mechanical purposes. So, when the character loses the tome, the spells go with it.

I could imagine the character copying the spell from the tome into the spellbook . . . but then what would prevent him or her from just visiting a 'tome library' and copying everything down?

~

 

[mach1.9pants]

IMC we treat the tome as another spellbook, to be used like his others. Once the tome is gone (lost, destroyed, sold) he no longer has access to those spells.... certainly not RAW but slightly better. Although a Wizard under my rule could create many tomes and end up with loads of spells in the tomes stacked on his Nodwick!

 

[Siran Dunmorgan]

I could imagine the character copying the spell from the tome into the spellbook . . . but then what would prevent him or her from just visiting a 'tome library' and copying everything down?

~

Absolutely nothing, other than the Dungeon Master's willingness--or lack thereof--to allow the character access to such a library.

This kind of flexibility, i.e., being able to change out one's daily powers for any spell (of an appropriate level) in one's spellbook, is the Wizard's signature ability.

The key is that having a great many spells in one's book does not change the balance of the game: the wizard is still subject to the same daily limits on using their powers as other characters. But the wizard can, uniquely among classes in 4th Edition, select which daily powers they can use over the course of the day.

Only primary wizards--not multi-classed, not hybrid--have this kind of flexibility in power selection.

--Siran Dunmorgan