Why Not Share Spellbooks?

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

You might as well be asking why don't China, Russia, the USA, the UK, Israel, and the rest of the nuclear club share all of their nuclear secrets with each other?

Unlike with nukes, you can just go to the magic shop and buy scrolls of [whatever]. Sharing spellbooks is cheaper but not necessary for a wizard.

 

[the Jester]

Unlike with nukes, you can just go to the magic shop and buy scrolls of [whatever]. Sharing spellbooks is cheaper but not necessary for a wizard.

Hold on, there, playstyle assumption!

In many campaigns, you absolutely CANNOT just "go to the magic shop". In many more, you can, but you can't expect to find whatever you want. So your point is true for a game set in a high-population area that follows the 3e demographics (or has a greater-than-standard prevalence of magic shops), but otherwise, not so much. Even by the 3e RAW, higher-level spell scrolls aren't likely to be too available; anything smaller than a large town and you're out of luck for spells of level 5 & up.

 

[CAFRedblade]

PC Wizard to PC Wizard sharing of spells, that's up to both the Players themselves and the personalities the characters have(if any). And even then, they may require some additionals.

Otherwise, it's like any other transaction, you have an NPC Wizard that has be performing spell research, components used, and so forth. He doesn't go adventuring, so he'll charge for spells, and he'll most likely not hand over his precious spellbook(s), as it's his livelyhood. He'll craft a scroll or another spell book for you to copy things from, over to your own spellbook.

And as for the named spells, I just figure that eventually someone either stole, bought or recovered, or was trained to use the spell and it's slowly spread out to a wider area of knowledge. Although keep in mind, it's possible that some of those spells don't yet exist in a specific campaign world yet, and have yet to be discovered.

 

[N'raac]

Hold on, there, playstyle assumption!

In many campaigns, you absolutely CANNOT just "go to the magic shop". In many more, you can, but you can't expect to find whatever you want. So your point is true for a game set in a high-population area that follows the 3e demographics (or has a greater-than-standard prevalence of magic shops), but otherwise, not so much. Even by the 3e RAW, higher-level spell scrolls aren't likely to be too available; anything smaller than a large town and you're out of luck for spells of level 5 & up.

Reality check: if he cannot find someone capable of scribing a scroll of the spell in question (which includes, but is not limited to, any Wizard capable of casting the spell, as Scribe Scroll is a bonus Wizard feat), then where is he going to find a Wizard who has the spell in his spellbook to share?

PC Wizard to PC Wizard sharing of spells, that's up to both the Players themselves and the personalities the characters have(if any). And even then, they may require some additionals.

Otherwise, it's like any other transaction, you have an NPC Wizard that has be performing spell research, components used, and so forth. He doesn't go adventuring, so he'll charge for spells, and he'll most likely not hand over his precious spellbook(s), as it's his livelyhood. He'll craft a scroll or another spell book for you to copy things from, over to your own spellbook.

This seems most likely - handing out his own spellbook seems less than brilliant. "Hey, I've got a better idea! YOU leave YOUR spellbook here with me, and I'll copy my spell into your book and give it back when I'm done." How many PC's will go for that?

And as for the named spells, I just figure that eventually someone either stole, bought or recovered, or was trained to use the spell and it's slowly spread out to a wider area of knowledge. Although keep in mind, it's possible that some of those spells don't yet exist in a specific campaign world yet, and have yet to be discovered.

Alternatively, the caster could be long dead. Somene must have originally discovered all the spells, but the creator of Magic Missile (like the creator of, say, Hercules) is lost to time, while the creator of Melf's Acid Arrow (like the creator of Batman) is not.