| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| The Sage |
Posted - 26 Jul 2003 : 08:30:24
I am asking this mostly because I am just curious as to how many wizard players here have/or intend to experiment with alternative spellbooks.
I would like to hear what the other scribes here would use as alternative spellbooks, and also, if you have used them, try to list some of the experiences your character has had with them.
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| 28 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kaladorm |
Posted - 17 Jan 2006 : 00:09:47
Been meaning to post this. The party I'm DMing for recently saved the Blood of Lathander artifact from Aencar's Manor.
For ridding the manor of the intruders Aencar offered the wizard of the party one of his tomes (after asking what spell school he wanted).
I rewarded him with this
Aencars Tome of Transmutation
The wielder can transform the tome to become double or half its size at will. Standard size is 50x30x20cm. The binding is also under a permanent glamered illusion, and whilst retaining its shape the book can have as intricate or plain a cover as the bearer wishes.
Whilst in the possession of a wizard of higher than 5th level, it bestows a single extra spell slot for 0, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level spells.
It contains many spells in it, however the book magically rearranges its pages such that a wizard can only learn one new spell from it per level.
0-
Mage Hand
Mending
Message
Open/Close
Launch Bolt
1-
Animate Rope
Enlarge Person
Expeditious Retreat
Feather Fall
Jump
Reduce Person
Speed Swim
2-
Alter Self
Darkvision.
Levitate.
Rope Trick
Spider Climb
Scent
Aencars Monstrous Growth*
Aencars Diminutive Shrinking*
3-
Aencars Warped Materials*
Shrink Item
Fly
Blindsight
Greater Mage Hand
4-
Aencars Warped Magic*
Stone Shape
Spell Enhancer
Aencars Monstrous Growth*
Transmutation
Level: Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One humanoid creature
Duration: 1 min./level (D)
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
This spell causes instant growth of a humanoid creature, tripling its height and multiplying its weight by 12. This increase changes the creature’s size category to the second one up (e.g. small to large). The target gains a +4 size bonus to Strength, a –4 size penalty to Dexterity (to a minimum of 1), and a –2 penalty on attack rolls and AC due to its increased size.
This spell does not change the target’s speed.
If insufficient room is available for the desired growth, the creature attains the maximum possible size and may make a Strength check (using its increased Strength) to burst any enclosures in the process. If it fails, it is constrained without harm by the materials enclosing it— the spell cannot be used to crush a creature by increasing its size.
All equipment worn or carried by a creature is similarly enlarged by the spell. Melee and projectile weapons affected by this spell deal more damage. Other magical properties are not affected by this spell. Any enlarged item that leaves an enlarged creature’s possession (including a projectile or thrown weapon) instantly returns to its normal size. This means that thrown weapons deal their normal damage, and projectiles deal damage based on the size of the weapon that fired them. Magical properties of enlarged items are not increased by this spell.
Multiple magical effects that increase size do not stack,.
Aencars Monstrous Growth counters and dispels Aencars Diminutive Shrinking.
Aencars Monstrous Growth can be made permanent with a permanency spell.
Material Component: A pinch of powdered iron.
Aencars Diminutive Shrinking*
Transmutation
Level: Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One humanoid creature
Duration: 1 min./level (D)
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
This spell causes an instant reduction in size of a humanoid creature, halfing its height and multiplying its weight by 1/5th . This increase changes the creature’s size category to the second one down (e.g. large to small). The target gains a -4 size penalty to Strength, a +4 size bonus to Dexterity (to a minimum of 1), and a +2 bonus on attack rolls and AC due to its increased size.
This spell does not change the target’s speed.
All equipment worn or carried by a creature is similarly reduced by the spell.
Melee and projectile weapons deal less damage. Other magical properties are not affected by this spell. Any reduced item that leaves the reduced creature’s possession (including a projectile or thrown weapon) instantly returns to its normal size. This means that thrown weapons deal their normal damage (projectiles deal damage based on the size of the weapon that fired them).
Multiple magical effects that decrease size do not stack,.
Aencars Diminutive Shrinking counters and dispels. Aencars Monstrous Growth
Aencars Diminutive Shrinking can be made permanent with a permanency spell.
Material Component: A pinch of powdered iron.
Aencars Warped Materials*
Transmutation
Level: Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Touch
Target: See Description
Duration: 1 hour
Saving Throw: N/A
Spell Resistance: N/A
The caster may change an items material type, to another material type for 1 hour. All properties of the item remain the same (such as damage on a weapon, or AC of armour, weight), apart from those affected by material (e.g. a druid could wear a chain shirt that has been turned to wood, or for purposes of damage reduction, a steel sword turned to silver). This skill may be applied to 20 of an ammunition type (bolts, arrows, bullets, shurikens etc.). Materials allowed are: Steel, Iron, Wood, Stone, Leather, Adamantium, Glass, Silver, Bone.
An enemy may use it’s spell resistance to resist a hostile use of this spell on an item in it’s possession.
Aencars Warped Magic*
Transmutation
Level: Sor/Wiz 4
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Touch
Target: See Description
Duration: 1 hour
Saving Throw: N/A
Spell Resistance: N/A
The caster may change a single magic property on an item to one of similar strength for 1 hour (for example a Corrosive Long Sword could become a Venemous Long Sword). This may be cast multiple times on the same item.
An enemy may use it’s spell resistance to resist a hostile use of this spell on an item in it’s possession.
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| Beirnadri Magranth |
Posted - 16 Jan 2006 : 06:23:59
heres off the top of my head as i was reading the first page of this topic!
The spell book is just a series of small clear prisms with the text etched on to the surface via magic (aka dwarven hands)the wizard aligns the prisms in different positions in front of a light source before a blank wall etc(a page). depending on the facet of teh prism in each direction and the position and order of teh prisms, a different section of teh spellbook is displayed as various segments align. these stones might haev to be magical idk i just thought of it now! lol |
| tauster |
Posted - 29 Jul 2003 : 16:31:52
thx again, sage.
i found that my cookie- setings were messed up.
problem solved! :) |
| The Sage |
Posted - 29 Jul 2003 : 09:21:43
I see the problem tauster. The reason you have no edit icon on screen is because you did not log in before viewing the forums. If you wish to post a topic or reply, or edit a post, you must be logged in. Once you have entered your uersname and password, you should be able to edit your posts with that icon, as it will then be visible.
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| tauster |
Posted - 29 Jul 2003 : 08:52:17
thanks for your help sage, but apparently we set our eyes upon different scrolls. either that or those eyes of mine are blind. 
let me give you a look though mine: http://people.freenet.de/chefseehund/sshot.gif
may it be that i have to change settings somewhere in my candlekeep profile?
:scratches his head and walks in circles around the desk::
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| The Sage |
Posted - 29 Jul 2003 : 02:44:23
tauster, if you look across the top border of your most recent post, directly right of your screen name you will see a small number of icons near the date and time of posting. The third icon along has a lined piece of paper and a small pencil. By pressing this icon, it takes you to a screen where you can edit your post. From there, it operates much the same way as entering a new reply in the first place.
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| tauster |
Posted - 28 Jul 2003 : 20:09:15
i apologize for my bad spelling, i still haven´t found out how to edit postings subsequently. please enlighten me!
some addenda:
- there´s a pre- defined list what spells can be borrowed (taken from the original accessory)
- the ring- bearer is a gnomish illusionist, which means he has no access to many offensive spells like magic missile. a hefty disadvantage for a party consisting of only 3 pc! the ring was meant to balance that drawback: although he can still cast no magic missile (at least not through that ring), more spells mean that he can concentrate his selection on other things than detect magic... at higher levels, 3 spell-levels in 3 days doesn´t matter anymore, and the network- aspect will (hopefully!) be the main benefit.
- concerning the drawback i mentioned at the end of my posting: nobody knows wheter or not other rings exist, and whether or not they have access to the "network" of the 3 rings. kind of a potential security- risk...
- another word about james t.: to date our party is around level 4, so he´s WAY more powerful than them. his low intelligence partially balances that, as well as his personality... 
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| tauster |
Posted - 28 Jul 2003 : 19:47:28
darwin award... *rofl* 
the spellbook i designed hails from netherese times and is in fact more than a simple spellbook:
it comes in form of a golden ring, plain and simple.
once the command word is spoken, an semi-illusionary room forms around the wearer (and his companions). the room measures 5 x 5 x 3 m (adjust it if you want) and contains the following things: a big table of dark wood, 6 chairs, bookshelfes on every wall, complete with a shelf- ladder, but otherwise empty when found. if you´re generous, let your pc find some old, forgotten spell there...
up to now that´s all fine und impressive, but otherwise pretty useless. your wizsards will scratch their heads and wonder how to get spells into that "potential library"... let them do some (expensive!) research, so they´ll find the SECOND command word (well hidden during the ring´s creation, so identify won´t reveal it at first).
where was i?... ah yes, that 2nd word.
*ahem*... whenever the ring is laid upon a page of metal, the page is consumed and appears as scroll (or book, in case of a pile of metal-pages) in one of the bookcases. that works with mundane texts (requires a page of pure silver worth 10 sp) as well as spell- containing scrolls. magical scrolls or pages of a spellbook have to be made of a silver- gold- alloy (50% each, so one page is worth 5.5 gp).
if you want, throw a netherese- themed adventure your party´s way (or another old and mighty culture), let them traipse though the anauroch... and let them find another set of items that can be used with their spellbook-ring:
a) another, identical ring and
b) a kind "centerpiece" that acts as a hub for all rings.
i found such a thing in the accessories "college of wizardry": the spellcrux. every initiated member of the college (essentially a wizards guild) gets a personal item that is linked to the spellcrux... th cut a long story short, it´s a spellpool as described in "magic of faerun", p19.
if your are generous, let one of your wizard- pc´s come from a wizards guild with access to a spellpool, or suggest they should donate the new- found item to their guild (granting them free spells or another boon as compensation)...
either way, a spellcrux combined with several of the aforementioned rings is a powerful thing: it enables not only access to a spellpool (which alone is a BIG advantage!), it can be used as the probably fastest and most reliable communication- network on faerun, as the spellpool also serves as hub for mundane texts (notes, treasure- maps, and so on...).
i do not know if that set of items is well- balanced, up to now the player i handed that ring over has not overly misused it. my limitations:
- only spells up to 3rd leven (2e rules!) can be taken to or from the spellcrux,
- only up to 3 spell- level in 3 days can be "borrowed",
- no offensive spells can be borrowed from the spellcrux,
- the "debt" has to be repayed after 3 day at the latest, by casting any spell into the ring (essentially the repayed levels are important; almost every spell can be used to repay the debt, though non- offensive spells are prefered)
one of the drawbacks is that in my campaign only 3 such rings are known to exist: one has our wizard, one is in his academy, the other belongs to a former member of the academy: james t. fireblade... he´s my favourite npc: 10th-level transmuter, intelligence 10, VERY rude, sitting in a flying wheelchair, sometimes hurling delayed fireballs (material component: a burning stump of a cigar), thrown out of the guild due to bad behaviour, grudgingly "re- affiliated" beause of his ring and the knowledge of it... and presently accompanying the party to myth glaurach...http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/mc/mc20010829e but i degress... 
any critic is appreciated.
tauster |
| The Sage |
Posted - 28 Jul 2003 : 02:59:24
Another fine example of the mind of the average human at work  .
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| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 28 Jul 2003 : 02:57:17
quote:
Originally posted by Malanthius
As for the feat itself, theirs another one almost exactly like it in tome and blood I think (either that or magic of faerun) that doesn't require you to be an archmage. Another favorite feat is mastery of shaping (or something similar) where you can change the form (ie a cone to a ball, to a bolt) However you wish.
That first one is Energy Substitution. However, it's something a bit less than the ability of the achmage; you have to take it five times to get all five energy types. If you get the archmage power, it's all in one, and doesn't take up a feat slot.
The second metafeat is called Shape Spell.
Mournblade, you ought to know better than that! That Red Wizard would only qualify for the Sarwin Award if he died as a result of trying to read that tattoo.
For those who might not know:
The Darwin Award is given to those "Who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it." Basically, it's only given to dead stupid people who died in a stupid way through their own fault.
First time I ever heard of this was when I read of this guy who bought a used rocket booster, filled it with jet fuel, and strapped the thing to the trunk of his car.
They found him imbeded in a nearby cliff. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 28 Jul 2003 : 02:40:33
They are certainly some very interesting additions. Although I have some difficultly in actually seeing some of these work, especially in a combat round.
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| Malanthius |
Posted - 27 Jul 2003 : 20:44:34
Oh that? He had a permancy spell that made his eyes glow.
Mal. |
| Mournblade |
Posted - 27 Jul 2003 : 20:37:09
Red wizard with spells tatooed on the back of his eyelids? How is that genius? How the baator does he SEE what is tatooed on the back of his eyelids. I think that red wizard is a good candidate for the adventurers DARWIN award!
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| Nakil Delquion |
Posted - 27 Jul 2003 : 19:41:41
I am not going to read through the numerous posts located in this topic, but will merely spout out my ideas, assuming none have been taken.
First of all, that staff idea is simliar to a creation of the Saurials, a humanoid dinasour race located in Mostrous Compendium Three.
Second, this isn't so much an alternative spell book as a revamped spell book:
Krystaufer's Spell Book.
Krystaufer's Amazing Spell book is a small notebook-sized booklet measuring one-half inch thick, two inches wide, and three inches tall. However when the cover is lifted to reveal its pages within, the book instantly expands to 12 times that size. When the covers are closed, it shrinks back to its original size.
That spellbook comes from the time of Netheril, which I, as a long-lived elf, remember quite clearly.
Also, as a native of that once-great Nation of Cormanthyr, I must mention two great creations:
1)Symrustar's Choker:
This ornate choker of a tightly linked trio of platinum chains beset with gems was made exclusively for Symrustar Auglamyr at her request and enchanted by her to be, in effect, her spellbook. After its completion in the Year of the Dagger (348 DR), Symrustar never appeared anywhere without the familiar diadem gleaming on her shapely neck.
The choker's three chains share a singular clasp, though once worn, the clasp disappears and the chains unite until the death of the wearer. Two rows of nine diamond-cut blue gems link the chains together and these act similarly to kirrain their storage of specific knowledge. In all, the choker holds as many as 200 spells and Symrustar can study the spells within the choker while sleeping. This reduces memorization time, as you do not need to study, then sleep, but merely sleep!
This idea, which hails from the boughs of Cormanthyr as I stated above, could be used for any jewelry or diadem for both male and female mages.
2)Ruehar Oakstaff, one of the original Harpers at Twilight, was a long-time confidante, lover, and friend of Lady Steel. In gratitude she created for the green elf mage and musician, a unique magical transverse flute that looked like a rolled up mage's scroll made from silver, with its holes lined up along the scroll's edge.
While the flute has some minor powers tied to its music, no bard has ever played the flute, so the powers are as yet unknown to the owners. It has two other powers though, neither of which are tied to musical talents, thugh Ruehar's musical abilities were well-noted.
This flute survived the Fall of Myth Drannor as it fell into the possession of Ruehar's granddaughter Lyraesel with his death at Twilight's Fall. Fulfilling his last wishes, Lyraesel led much of her clan and a number of other sylvan elf families south out of the forest. After a long trek on foot, the unified clans soon to be called the Elmanesse reached safety down among their distand kin within the forets of tethir.
The Primary power of the flue that ruehar and his descendants know of is its use as a spell book. With a command word the holder of Ruehar's Flute can cause it to actually unroll and reveal spells recorded on the silver sheets that comprise the instrument. You can decide on the number of pages, or perhaps this has given you an idea for another instrument.
Also, I read a book once, it was a horrible book, I forget its title, however within its pages it described of a special box of holding that a mage carried. This box opened and unfolded to reveal numerous compartments. On every conceivable inch on the inside, mystical words (his spells) were inscribed, and in those innumerable compartments the mage stored his material components. Thus you had component storage and spell storage taken care of with one object!
Also it should be noted that if you are an elf, or a sage of elven things, you surely know what a Tel'Kiira is and what its properties are as a Lore Gem. Certain human mages and elven mages alike have created lesser versions of Lore Gems which will store spells the wearer sees and studies for a certain amount of time per spell level. Once studied, the spell remains ever within the gem (which can be bonded to you so that it actually is placed within your body, unseen, undetected, and utterly safe) so that you can meditate to memorize your spells.
As a Magister of Mystra, I went abroad many years ago, once travelling to the southern nation of Luiren, which as you may know, is a nation of halflings. I found that they indeed have their own form of mages, though they are few in number. After spending time with one, Galruth Firetouch by name, I found that his spell book was actually a pipe! When one used it after speaking a command word the smoke that came forth actually took the form of a page in a spell book. It appeared as just a haze of smoke to anyone but the pipe's owner. The page that came forth was up to the user, and he could easily shuffle through the book, mentally dismissing the smoke that was gathered there. To add a spell to thise magic pipes, once merely had to study to learn it, and then after going through a not-to-complicated ritual, one would have to burn the page it is on, and put the ashes in the pipe to rest for a few minutes. Afterwards, if you successfully learned the spell, it would forever remain within the pipe, to be recalled at your behest.
My respect as well as my amusement grew quite suddenly when I realized that this creative spellbook was no more than an attempt to ensure that halfling mages remained as comfortable as possible while studying their spells (they thoroughly enjoy pipeweed while reading I hear). I was curious to use that sort of spell book, but I, like most elves, disdian pipe weed, and so I continue to use other methods to retain my spells.
On travels into Aglarond I have heard of enchanted spectacles (glasses) that store spells in some manner or another that allows you to summon up the page in your lenses and study your spells.
I'm afraid I must be off now, that balor I summoned is getting impatient.
I hope I helped.
Have a wonderful day!
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| Malanthius |
Posted - 27 Jul 2003 : 19:03:40
A very wise man once said "specialization is for insects". I'm basically a (Shhhh,don't tell anyone: Troll 11)Wiz20/Sor20/Psi20.
As for the feat itself, theirs another one almost exactly like it in tome and blood I think (either that or magic of faerun) that doesn't require you to be an archmage. Another favorite feat is mastery of shaping (or something similar) where you can change the form (ie a cone to a ball, to a bolt) However you wish.
Sage: They're a good choice if your pretending to be a fortune teller, or under specific circumstances (a specific kind of illusion spell on the cards) a professional gambler. They're a little bit too obvious for my tastes otherwise.
Mal.
P.S. All time best concealed spell book i ever heard of? The genius of a redwizard that had his spells tattoed on the inside of his eyelids. |
| Mournblade |
Posted - 27 Jul 2003 : 18:32:16
Malanthius you can always become an archmage and get the High Arcana elemental Mastery. That is very nice:)
COLD BALL ACID BALL LIGHTNING BALL? NAH TODAY WE WILL GO WITH FIREBALL. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 27 Jul 2003 : 15:07:05
What are your opinions on rune-cards?. These contain the spell instructions inscribed upon average size tarot cards.
How effective would something like this actually be.
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| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 27 Jul 2003 : 14:50:12
I believe that was what he meant -- at least one of each type per spell level. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 27 Jul 2003 : 14:41:26
WOW!  . You have definitely covered the basics. Maybe with the other 200 pages, you could have varying degrees of elemental spells, ranging from 1st-to-9th level. You never know when that particularly nasty fire salamander is going to just shrug off your puny ice dagger spell.
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| Malanthius |
Posted - 27 Jul 2003 : 14:36:48
Okay,
This is mostly my emergency spellbook in case some idiot actually finds a way to cut me off from my various safe holds. First and foremost, my motto is, "There's always a way out" expect variations on ethereal jaunt, teleport,telport without error, dimension door, etc. I also have a tendency to keep at least one of each elemental variant damage spell (ie acid arrow, argonazzar's scorcher,etc) per level so whatever area i wind up in, i'll have a spell to hurt whatever lives there, Finally my emergency spells:contingency, simulacrum, magic jar, clone, wish, waterbreathing, planar alignment, create food and water.
That's usually what i have around, and there's generally 200 equivalent pages left in case i find something interesting.
Mal. |
| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 27 Jul 2003 : 11:02:44
Heh. The magical equivalent of an electronic book-reader. I like this. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 27 Jul 2003 : 02:48:55
I like this Malanthius.
Any hint as to what spells are contained within, or is this purely up to the DM?.
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| Mournblade |
Posted - 26 Jul 2003 : 19:45:52
Very Nice! |
| Malanthius |
Posted - 26 Jul 2003 : 18:25:02
Well personally...
Malanthius' Gem
Caster Level: 17
Prerequisites: Create wondrous item,*size adjustment spell*, scry
Market price: 30000gp
weight: N/A
This simple gem at first glance appears as nothing more than a well polished river stone, closer inspection reveals a semi-transparent area in the exact center. Anyone looking into this must make a spot check (25) to notice the tiny inscriptions inside.
This object is actually an incredibly huge spell book (equivalent 1000 pages) that has been minuturized onto the confines of the crystal. The jewel has an inherent scry spell allowing the possesor to read the tiny script, but only under normal light. The script is not visible in the infra-red spectrum. Further spells can be scriped by using diamond dust(400gp per equivalent page) shrink, and telekinisis. |
| Zacas |
Posted - 26 Jul 2003 : 17:41:49
quote:
Originally posted by Bookwyrm
Don't forget that female wizard from The Parched Sea and [/i]The Veiled Dragon[/i] -- she had hers on the insides of her clothes.
Oh... you mean Ruha... the harper that was sent after Malik in the Return of the Archwizards also? :P hehe |
| The Sage |
Posted - 26 Jul 2003 : 11:23:34
Oh...I forgot about those ones. Thanks Bookwyrm .
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| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 26 Jul 2003 : 09:28:50
Don't forget that female wizard from The Parched Sea and The Veiled Dragon -- she had hers on the insides of her clothes. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 26 Jul 2003 : 08:32:10
As an example I will offer an idea from my own campaign -
A wizard PC which has a specially crafted staff which has been inscribed with many magical runes. Each set of these runes is in actual fact, the arcane instructions to the casting of a spell. The staff is essentially this PC's travelling spellbook. The magical runes (spells) recorded on the staff are simply those that the wizard would most likely want to be able to carry with him during an adventure.
Also, in the 2e Dark Sun campaign setting, there were other alternative methods of keeping differing spellbooks. These included the use of body tattoos, crystals, special runes on clothing, and magical chains with beads etc.
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