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Wizard's Spell Book Allocation
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<blockquote data-quote="Sword of Spirit" data-source="post: 7516265" data-attributes="member: 6677017"><p>So far, the only wizards we have encountered have been from published adventures (including previous edition adventures). If it makes sense for them to encounter a wizard in a home-brew adventure or other situation, they will.The spellbook's location is usually specified in the adventure. If not, I place it in a place that makes sense. They usually carry a copy on them so they don't risk it being stolen somewhere else.</p><p></p><p>If the PC defeats the wizard, they should usually be able to get access to their spellbook. While 5e doesn't require it, found spellbooks and scrolls has traditionally been the wizards <em>main</em> method of acquiring spells, and should be encouraged. As [MENTION=2629]jgsugden[/MENTION] said, finding spells won't mess anything up.</p><p></p><p>One thing to keep in mind is that copying spells into a spellbook a <em>major</em> drain on resources. And if you want to make a backup spellbook that adds even more cost (not too much though in 5e). My wizard is perpetually poor. Sometimes he has to borrow money from other party members. Usually he has spells he can't yet afford to copy sitting around in a captured spellbook. At the same time, the party members who don't spend much money are racking up a nice nest egg.</p><p></p><p>As far as fleshing out the spellbook itself, here is what I do.</p><p></p><p>1) If there is a published list of spells in the book, or a list of prepared spells, I start there.</p><p>2) I figure out how many spells he should know based on the wizard class rules.</p><p>3) After they hit that number, I tend to give them a few more spells. NPC wizards expand their spellbook too! I roll a die for this based on what makes sense to me.</p><p>4) I figure out which spells they have.</p><p> a) I don't worry about which spells the PC wizard has. Just figure the NPC's out as if they existed on their own. It won't hurt anything.</p><p> b) They almost always get the go to spells like <em>detect magic</em>, <em>identify</em>, etc. Since the PC probably always has these, they aren't going to be copied.</p><p> c) I pick a few additional spells (maybe just 1 or 2) that seem to really fit the character.</p><p> d) I randomly roll the remaining spells, favoring ones in the PHB over ones in other documents.</p><p> e) If an additional spell they know seems like it should been prepared if they knew it, I either prepare it in instead of one they had listed as prepared, or have them not in fact know it, and replace it with another spell.</p><p></p><p>Step 4d is really part of the fun. It means that the PC isn't as dependent on <em>my</em> parceling out the spells I think they should have, but rather gets to open up mystery presents. It's the same reason I like to use randomly rolled treasure when there isn't specific treasure assigned by an adventure.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sword of Spirit, post: 7516265, member: 6677017"] So far, the only wizards we have encountered have been from published adventures (including previous edition adventures). If it makes sense for them to encounter a wizard in a home-brew adventure or other situation, they will.The spellbook's location is usually specified in the adventure. If not, I place it in a place that makes sense. They usually carry a copy on them so they don't risk it being stolen somewhere else. If the PC defeats the wizard, they should usually be able to get access to their spellbook. While 5e doesn't require it, found spellbooks and scrolls has traditionally been the wizards [I]main[/I] method of acquiring spells, and should be encouraged. As [MENTION=2629]jgsugden[/MENTION] said, finding spells won't mess anything up. One thing to keep in mind is that copying spells into a spellbook a [I]major[/I] drain on resources. And if you want to make a backup spellbook that adds even more cost (not too much though in 5e). My wizard is perpetually poor. Sometimes he has to borrow money from other party members. Usually he has spells he can't yet afford to copy sitting around in a captured spellbook. At the same time, the party members who don't spend much money are racking up a nice nest egg. As far as fleshing out the spellbook itself, here is what I do. 1) If there is a published list of spells in the book, or a list of prepared spells, I start there. 2) I figure out how many spells he should know based on the wizard class rules. 3) After they hit that number, I tend to give them a few more spells. NPC wizards expand their spellbook too! I roll a die for this based on what makes sense to me. 4) I figure out which spells they have. a) I don't worry about which spells the PC wizard has. Just figure the NPC's out as if they existed on their own. It won't hurt anything. b) They almost always get the go to spells like [I]detect magic[/I], [I]identify[/I], etc. Since the PC probably always has these, they aren't going to be copied. c) I pick a few additional spells (maybe just 1 or 2) that seem to really fit the character. d) I randomly roll the remaining spells, favoring ones in the PHB over ones in other documents. e) If an additional spell they know seems like it should been prepared if they knew it, I either prepare it in instead of one they had listed as prepared, or have them not in fact know it, and replace it with another spell. Step 4d is really part of the fun. It means that the PC isn't as dependent on [I]my[/I] parceling out the spells I think they should have, but rather gets to open up mystery presents. It's the same reason I like to use randomly rolled treasure when there isn't specific treasure assigned by an adventure. [/QUOTE]
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