Value of a Spell book?

[Kae'Yoss]

PHB (3.5) Page 179: Selling a Spellbook:
They can be sold for one-half the cost of inscription. Inscribing spells costs 100 gp per page, a spell using 1 page per spell level. So you get 50gp per page, or 5.000gp for a full spellbook (100 pages)

 

[andargor]

The PH does cover preparing spells from someone else's spellbook. I believe for any particular spell, the Spellcraft DC is 15+spell level, so it can be used without copying everything out of it, it's just less efficient.

Nope.

From SRD (3.0)

Wizard Spells and Borrowed Spellbooks

A wizard can use a borrowed spellbook to prepare a spell the character already knows and has recorded in the character’s own spellbook, but preparation success is not assured. First, the wizard must decipher the writing in the book (see Arcane Magical Writings, above). Once a spell from another spellcaster's book is deciphered, the reader must make a successful Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell's level) to prepare the spell. If the check succeeds, the wizard can prepare the spell. The wizard must repeat the check to prepare the spell again, no matter how many times the character has prepared the spell before. If the check fails, the character cannot try to prepare the spell from the same source again until the next day. (However, as explained above, the character does not need to repeat a check to decipher the writing.)

Andargor

 

[andargor]

As to having to copy the spell before using it - - never read that rule anywhere. I did see one that said it was DC 15 + spell level to use another person's book. Also, keep in mind, if you make the book yours (e.g., prepare spells out of it over a prolonged period of time) it won't be "another person's book" forever.

Read above for the copying.

I don't see any rule, except the FR "mastering a spellbook" rule, that will make a borrowed spellbook "yours" after a certain time.

Andargor

 

[Skinwalker]

Yeah, Andargor, the Mastering a Spellbook section is what I was thinking of. Didn't realize that was specific to FR.

One thing is still confusing me, though. Is the intent of your message that a spellbook composed by someone else is *always* considered borrowed?

 

[andargor]

One thing is still confusing me, though. Is the intent of your message that a spellbook composed by someone else is *always* considered borrowed?

Yes, read the section on "Arcane Magical Writings".

To decipher an arcane magical writing (such as a single spell in written form in another's spellbook or on a scroll), a character must make a successful Spellcraft check (DC 20 + the spell's level).

Note that I don't enjoy these rules, as I play a Wizard. Nope, not one bit.

Andargor

 

[Rel]

Might wanna check the math on that system. Low level spells would be underpriced and high level spells would be overpriced. Remember, scrolls cost what they do because they are spell *completion* items. A spellbook is a spell *preparation* item.

I understand the distinction that you are drawing here, but it doesn't seem to have a lot of bearing on the issue of the value of a "found" spellbook.

There are two sources of value of a found spellbook to a potential buyer (who we will assume is a Wizard). One is that it may contain spells that he does not have in his own spellbook, but would like to have. The other is as a possible backup for his existing spellbook.

If he is looking for spells that he doesn't already have, he shouldn't pay more for the spellbook than it would cost him to purchase those spells as scrolls because that is the obvious alternate method to achieving the same end. I will certainly grant you that a scroll does something that the spellbook can't and that is of course give you the ability to cast the spell instead of copying it. But the found spellbook has an ability that the scroll doesn't have and that is to allow you to copy the spell and still have the original when you're done (which potentially gives the found spellbook resale value when he's done with it, assuming that he doesn't want to keep it as a backup).

I will mention, by way of my distaste for the spellbook rules presented in the 3.0 PHB, that if there existed the concept of "rare" spells, it could have a dramatic impact on what Wizards would pay for a found book (assuming that it contained such a spell). That concept does not exist however since a Wizard can pick up any two spells in the book, for free, upon gaining a level. Ergo, a Wizard should never spend a dramatic amount of money on a spell he doesn't have, so long as he expects to live long enough to gain his next level and get the spell that he wants for no cost in time or money as part of his "ongoing research".

As for purchasing the found book as a backup book, the rules are even more murky. As andargor points out, the rules as written don't allow for you to make a found book yours. The best you can hope for is that your Spellcraft skill is high enough to allow you to succeed on a routine basis (by taking 10 on the check). If you do get your Spellcraft skill up that high though, there is no reason why you couldn't use such a found spellbook as a backup in case of catastrophe.

In such a case, assuming that the would-be-purchaser has the time to create the backup himself, the book would have a value equal to what it would take the Wizard to create it himself (50 GP per page). If he was for some reason in a hurry (like if he had lost his original spellbook already) I suspect he would pay a premium. The part about this that I really hate is the bit where he begins adding new spells to the found spellbook he's using as a backup, which then becomes a sort of hybrid book that is part "his own" and part "borrowed". As if the Wizard doesn't have enough associated bookeeping already, now you must keep track of which spells in the book were originally scribed by you and which were scribed by the original owner.

As a final mental exercise, the question is begged: "Would the average NPC Wizard prefer to spend his money acquiring new spells for his spellbook or would he prefer to spend money hedging against catastrophe by purchasing a backup book?" As shown above, this is complicated by the fact that he would have to decide whether he wants the hassle of buying a found book that will force him to constantly make Spellcraft checks to use it or would he rather just scribe the backup himself.

Did any of this serve to answer the original question? No. But, as I said before, I don't think there can be an objective answer to the original question because the value of a given spellbook is entirely contingent on who you are trying to sell it to.

As for me, I chucked the whole damn thing and house ruled the hell out of it. The blanket house rule they've provided for 3.5 is great if you are looking for a quick and dirty solution but it is not derived logically and is, at best, a very crude approximation of how a spellbook would be valued in a world governed by the rules they've set forth. Which is great if you are just looking to sell the bloody thing and get back to the game (and I wholeheartedly endorse its use for that purpose).