Wizards: What happens when they lose their spellbooks?

[Hypersmurf]

A lock doesn't prevent someoen from takign teh book -- only from OPENING it.

No, no - the lock is for the handcuffs that connect the attache case in which you keep your spellbook to your wrist!

You can always tell the wizards - they all look like diplomatic couriers...

-Hyp.

 

[oromancer]

A lock doesn't prevent someoen from takign teh book -- only from OPENING it. And other than Fire Trap, I can't think of much that outright prevents someone from (again) just taking the thing away.

Which still leaves the Wizard in the same position: sans spellbook.

But why would someone want to take a book they can't use? Most thieves steal things that are going to be useful in some way. It would be rarer I would think for someone to take a wizard's spellbook away just because he didn't like him, if there was no benefit for the taker.

Headbands of Intellect; Bracers of Armor; wands, staves, scrolls, and potions; cloaks of resistance or displacement; Ioun stones (if nothing else, the luck-bonus, competence-bonus, and caster-level bonus ones); a magic Quarterstaff ... especially with Spellblade (Mordenkainen's Disjunction) on one end and Spellblade(Dimensional Anchor) on the other.

Right - all magic items, which are usually found, not bought. This does depend on the campaign, however.

Then there're those wee, insignificant, unimportant things called expensive spell components and foci ...

Okay, good point here. But still not enough to run his bank account dry. Plus, any wizard can go into a decent sized town and sell his own spellcasting abilities to make more money. After all, if it's good for NPC's, it's good for PC's as well...

 

[Thanee]

On a more serious note, you can use Shrink Item, made permanent, on the spellbook to hide it on your clothing.

Of course, you should also use Nystul's Undetectable Aura, so a simple Detect Magic won't find it! Only problem there... the spell doesn't seem to exist anymore in 3.5!

Bye
Thanee

 

[Pax]

But why would someone want to take a book they can't use? Most thieves steal things that are going to be useful in some way. It would be rarer I would think for someone to take a wizard's spellbook away just because he didn't like him, if there was no benefit for the taker.

<sarcasm>
Oh, dear, I wasn't aware we were spekaing SOLELY of random acts of petty burglary. Somehow, I was left with the -- apparently incorrect -- assumption we were discussing the removal of spellbooks in general ...

Silly me!
</sarcasm>

Right - all magic items, which are usually found, not bought. This does depend on the campaign, however.

Found, bought, or made by the wizard. You do recall that Wizard get bonus feat options that have to be spell mastery, metamagics, or item creation feats ... right?

Third edition, further, assumes that there IS a trade in magic items. Established shops may not be the rule, but, by asking around and investing some time in the right sized urban area, you can eventually find somewhere to purchase MOST magic items that go for less than ~100Kgp.

Okay, good point here. But still not enough to run his bank account dry. Plus, any wizard can go into a decent sized town and sell his own spellcasting abilities to make more money. After all, if it's good for NPC's, it's good for PC's as well...

I had one GM leery of letting me sell castings of wall of stone (one day's worth of castings per week) during some downtime ... so the ability to sell spellcasting services is NOT guaranteed.

On top of which, if the party spellcasters can go into town and make mad amounts of cash for no risk, the party NON-spellcasters are going to get very unhappy.

 

[Pax]

Thanee: try "Nystuls Magic Aura", which does both.

 

[AuraSeer]

But why would someone want to take a book they can't use?

To deny its use to the enemy, of course. This is one of the most fundamental principles of strategy. Whenever your enemy depends on resource X (be that a spellbook or a military objective), you want to keep it out of his hands, even if you cannot make use of it yourself.

Most thieves steal things that are going to be useful in some way. It would be rarer I would think for someone to take a wizard's spellbook away just because he didn't like him, if there was no benefit for the taker.

There is a benefit to the taker-- the benefit of "not being disintegrated, fireballed, turned to stone, or otherwise magically blowed up, when the wizard figures out I've been going through his pack."

 

[Thanee]

Thanee: try "Nystuls Magic Aura", which does both.

Ahh... thank you!

Bye
Thanee

 

[Jakathi]

how about...

how about the capture scene, but selective destruction of their gear.
get rid of some of the items you think is way over the top for their level, but let them 're-discover' some of their equipment like spell books, some swords and maybe some less powerful armor/arms. sorta like in baldur's gate II, where they found a bit of gear, enough to keep em from getting squashed. then as the game progresses, give em some nice items in keeping with their level and encounters.

 

[Li Shenron]

Of course, you should also use Nystul's Undetectable Aura, so a simple Detect Magic won't find it! Only problem there... the spell doesn't seem to exist anymore in 3.5!

Do you really need to? I don't think a spellbook can be found by Detect Magic, because unless it's a BBB, it is NOT a magic item, and the spells in it are neither scrolls nor active spells.

 

[Thanee]

But the spell can be found...

Altho... hmm... can Nystul's Magic Aura even hide the aura of a spell cast on an item?

Bye
Thanee