Value of a spellbook

[Innocent Bystander]

How do you determining what a spell book is worth if you wanted to sell it?

My Rogue got his hands on one so I was just wondering. Being the nice guy that he is, he'll probably just turn it over to the wizards in the party when they meet up again, but I was wondering what kind of monetary value such an item would have.

 

[Thanee]

By looking at page 179 PHB v3.5 "Selling a Spellbook", which basically states, that a spellbook is worth 50 gp x sum of spell levels inside, if you sell it.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Innocent Bystander]

Thanks. I was searching through the SRD and couldn't find it and don't have the books handy seeing that I'm at work and supposed to be working (a concept I haven't fully grasped yet )

 

[CalrinAlshaw]

Hrmm, I would say that each spell is worth about the same as any scroll, with minimum caster level for that spell.

Calrin Alshaw

 

[Fauxargent]

Hrmm, I would say that each spell is worth about the same as any scroll, with minimum caster level for that spell.

Calrin Alshaw

No - spellbooks are not scrolls. You cannot cast a spell out of a spellbook.
It is just a set of instructions with no power.

The value is 50 gp * number of spell levels as Thanee says (but this is probably overvalued)

 

[Thanee]

It is just a set of instructions with no power.

Don't tell that the wizard, or he'll show you.

(but this is probably overvalued)

Yeah, in the same way the cost to scribe spells into a spellbook is overpriced.

1/10th of the given figures seems more acceptable to me.

Bye
Thanee

 

[dead]

No - spellbooks are not scrolls. You cannot cast a spell out of a spellbook.
It is just a set of instructions with no power.

The value is 50 gp * number of spell levels as Thanee says (but this is probably overvalued)

Wow, I didn't know that. Is this something they just put into 3.5?

I always let my wizards cast spells out of their books when they were in desperate straits. In otherwords, a spellbook was like a bound collection of scrolls.

I have a question, though. If a spellbook is just a "set of instructions with no power" is it a magic item?

And, if it is a magic item, when it fails a magic item save, is the whole spellbook ruined or do you have to roll for each page?

 

[PugioilAudacio]

I agree that the prices are waaaaay to high. There are two ways of looking at it (IMHO):

1. The spellbook has no power, it is just a set of instructions. In this case the cost for scribing should be no more than for basic items of that quality.

2. The spellbook can also be used as a scroll, with the wizard casting out of it (this will, of course, erase the spell). In this case the spellbook acts as a sort of magically charged template through which the wizard accesses his spells. This method may warrant something close to that of a scrolls price which....

I sometimes do scrolls as requiring special ink/paper to scribe. To scribe a special scroll, one needs to buy the correct ingredients for that ink. Alternatively, they can collect the components they need themselves during their adventures. For example, a flesh to stone spell (or whatever it's called) might require:

1 oz Giant Squid ink
An eye from a basilisk
A piece of skin from a medusa
etc.

This is just off the top of my head, but you get the general idea. Ideally, the price for these components should add up to about the cost of that scroll. This just adds an extra option for the players. A similar method would be used with a spell book using option 2.

 

[Thanee]

I have a question, though. If a spellbook is just a "set of instructions with no power" is it a magic item?

No. It's nonmagic.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Fauxargent]

Wow, I didn't know that. Is this something they just put into 3.5?

No. It wasn't possible in 3.0 either.

... is it a magic item? ...

My approach is that it is not a magic item and that the whole book would be ruined - Makes Spell Mastery worth taking as a feat.