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shandiris
Seeker
61 Posts |
 Posted - 10 Feb 2008 : 18:47:11
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I have a small question, I have an character in my campaign who is a spellbookcollector wich I find fine. I think I'll have some problem tho. The player will probaly want to buy spellbooks from somone.
I know the normal rules for buying spellbooks that are empty. But if somone wants to buy a spellbook with spells in it?
How do you price it?
Thanks in advance,
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Hoondatha
Great Reader
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2008 : 18:50:36
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[laugh] We haven't even finished the debate on empty spellbooks!
Seriously, though, it's whatever the market will bear, based upon how much is in the book. If there are several very useful, entirely unique spells, it could be hundreds of thousands of gold pieces. That's certainly what the seller will initially want. If it's just a couple of 1st and 2nd level PHB spells, then probably not a lot. But it's all relative, depending on the location, how much money is in your campaign, the kinds of spells, and who's buying. And heavens help you if you get several mages in a bidding war for an important book: you're likely to be dodging fireballs right quick. |
Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well. |
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4689 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2008 : 19:44:04
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per SRD 3.5
quote:
Replacing and Copying Spellbooks
A wizard can use the procedure for learning a spell to reconstruct a lost spellbook. If she already has a particular spell prepared, she can write it directly into a new book at a cost of 100 gp per page (as noted in Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook, above). The process wipes the prepared spell from her mind, just as casting it would. If she does not have the spell prepared, she can prepare it from a borrowed spellbook and then write it into a new book.
Duplicating an existing spellbook uses the same procedure as replacing it, but the task is much easier. The time requirement and cost per page are halved.
Selling a Spellbook
Captured spellbooks can be sold for a gp amount equal to one-half the cost of purchasing and inscribing the spells within (that is, one-half of 100 gp per page of spells). A spellbook entirely filled with spells (that is, with one hundred pages of spells inscribed in it) is worth 5,000 gp.
The minimun price should be the cost of replacing the spell book if buying from the spell caster and likely twice as much. There does exist a posible lower cost if buting from heirs that do not need it. Treat as captured spellbook.
In some cases it is posible that an heir will not know it is a spell book and a bargin deal can be made.
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"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards."
"Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding.
"After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first."
"Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2008 : 03:51:23
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I don't know if many remember it, but once upon a time in the Forgotten Realms...
Spellbooks were sometimes a rare thing indeed...especially very important ones with original spells and such. I can't remember the name of the book off hand (I think it had a black robed wizard on the front casting a spell as an undead crawled from the ground...not sure if that is the right one) and I don't own it any longer...but if anyone knows the name, just let us all know.
That book had lots of spell books in it...most of them of course very special; but that could be a good reference for how much spell books are.
Each spell book is unique and has a history. I have always tried to make sure of the HISTORY of a spell book. They are just as important, if not more so, than other magic items...and history can be VERY expensive. |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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Hoondatha
Great Reader
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2008 : 04:35:27
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| I think you're thinking of Pages from the Mages. The cover illustration isn't the same, but the content is. |
Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well. |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2008 : 06:42:37
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quote:
Originally posted by Hoondatha
I think you're thinking of Pages from the Mages. The cover illustration isn't the same, but the content is.
Was Pages from the Mages Second Edition? The item I am thinking of was First Edition. |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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Hoondatha
Great Reader
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2008 : 08:47:22
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| Ah, well then it's probably something different. PftM was 2e. Not sure what product you're describing then. |
Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well. |
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crazedventurers
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1073 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2008 : 09:28:34
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quote:
Originally posted by Kentinal
per SRD 3.5
Captured spellbooks can be sold for a gp amount equal to one-half the cost of purchasing and inscribing the spells within (that is, one-half of 100 gp per page of spells). A spellbook entirely filled with spells (that is, with one hundred pages of spells inscribed in it) is worth 5,000 gp.
You can buy a complete spell book for half the money if would take to inscribe it yourself? Thats ridiculous and make no sense what so ever.
You are saving time by buying a spellbook, I would say the book is worth at least twice as much as it costs to create/scribe and even more if there are uncommon/rare spells in there, (unique spells - oh boy, every wizard in a 200 mile radius is going to want it and some of them wont be too fussy how they get it )
What annoys me is the whole buying/selling magic system within the game/rule context. THe PC's can only get half price for selling but must pay full for buying? Why? lets just think about this logicaly:
a) Party is 3rd level and want to buy a sword +1 and it costs 2K
b) Party is 10th level and wants to sell a sword +1 they get 1K
in a) the party bought the sword from a 10th level NPC group, in b) the Party are selling the sword to a 3rd level NPC group, so why the difference in price? because we have 'ye olde magic shoppe' built into the ruleset which standardises everything and takes away the 'wonder of magic items', they are no longer special, but just a trade good like cows, baskets and blankets. No commodity should just be standard but what the 'market wil bear', especially for more valuable items (like magic).
Shandirls: to answer you question you decide! if the players have lots of cash and/or other minor magic then charge/barter them more. Always start at an exhorbitant sum of money and then work down to a more reasonable price so the players feel as they got a bargain and it makes them feel good about it. If the players are cash/magic poor then sell it for a lesser sum but include a service as well, that way you get to run an adventure or three which moves the campaign along.
Just my thoughts
Damian
ps the 1E book was FR4 The Magister |
So saith Ed. I've never said he was sane, have I?
Gods, all this writing and he's running a constant fantasy version of Coronation Street in his head, too. .
shudder,
love to all,
THO
Candlekeep Forum 7 May 2005 |
Edited by - crazedventurers on 11 Feb 2008 09:30:56 |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2008 : 11:06:05
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quote:
Originally posted by Hoondatha
Ah, well then it's probably something different. PftM was 2e. Not sure what product you're describing then.
I think it was FR4 The Magister, then. |
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freyar
Learned Scribe
Canada
220 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2008 : 15:12:22
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quote:
Originally posted by crazedventurers
You can buy a complete spell book for half the money if would take to inscribe it yourself? Thats ridiculous and make no sense what so ever.
You are saving time by buying a spellbook, I would say the book is worth at least twice as much as it costs to create/scribe and even more if there are uncommon/rare spells in there, (unique spells - oh boy, every wizard in a 200 mile radius is going to want it and some of them wont be too fussy how they get it)
I see some of the issues you have with the overall item pricing scheme, since it stretches internal consistency a bit, but there is some possible logic behind the spellbook pricing. The point is that, without going to a degree of trouble, you have to recopy any spells you learn from that spellbook into yours. From Magic of Faerun, you must spend a tenday plus a day per spell to master a spellbook to use as your own (and then succeed at a DC25+highest spell level Spellcraft check). I might even wonder if it's common knowledge or not that you can use a foreign spellbook without recopying, and I can certainly imagine circumstances that would increase the DC considerably. |
My DnD Links and Creations |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2008 : 17:23:44
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YES! The Magister...
I lost that book years ago and haven't been able to replace it since...if for sure that is it; but it just sounds right.
That book had a wonderful take on magic items. Each had history, substance (versus a simple list of contained spells) and was a great read too!
Hmmm...wonder if it is available for download or something somewhere? |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2008 : 18:02:37
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quote:
Originally posted by dalor_darden
YES! The Magister...
I lost that book years ago and haven't been able to replace it since...if for sure that is it; but it just sounds right.
That book had a wonderful take on magic items. Each had history, substance (versus a simple list of contained spells) and was a great read too!
Hmmm...wonder if it is available for download or something somewhere?
It is indeed available for download, but not for free. I got my pdf copy from Paizo.com. I also saw a print copy pop up on eBay just this morning. I noted it because years ago, that was a book I'd searched long and hard for, only to discover it on eBay long after I'd just about given up on finding it. It was one of my first eBay purchases. |
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Hoondatha
Great Reader
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2008 : 18:38:46
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| Which explains my confusion, since Pages from the Mages was a 2e update and expansion of FR4. |
Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well. |
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2008 : 23:04:13
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The interesting thing about Pages From the Mages (2E), which I mentioned in the blank spellbook discussion, is that many, if not most, of Faerun's most famous spellbooks are currently stolen and missing, or have been at some time in the past, and someone usually wants them (or wants them back). In my campaign I have had my party discover The Book of the Silver Talon, which contains variations on low-level spells and variant formulae for inks to write low-level spells. and I made it absolutely clear to them that if someone shows up with a claim on it and offers to buy it back with "a finder's fee," a refusal will probably be met with a massive attack -- to the death! -- from the author's disciples (and many others who know what's in it).
In many cases the value of a spellbook is your life and the lives of everyone around you, and your little familiar, Toto, too! 
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2008 : 23:28:39
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| A lot of that is from the existence of unique spells in those tomes. Many mages are constantly looking for new spells, either to hoard them, or to be able to hurl them at another mage who won't know what's coming. Or both. As many real world events have shown (and not just the ones in the sporting world), some folk will go to rather surprising lengths to get a bit of an edge on the competition. |
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tauster
Senior Scribe
Germany
399 Posts |
Posted - 12 Feb 2008 : 10:44:15
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Damian: Nice to see someone with a similar view on magic! 
How you describe magic is about how I do it in my campaigns. It's damn rare in everyday life, even though in the half-world of adventurers clearly more magic is being hurled, swung, traded, stolen and restolen.
In my opinion, that's the difficulty: Giving the PC's (and their enemies) magic (items, spells, weapons, etc) so that no player feels neglected - which will invariably result in a small number of characters carrying a LOT of magic around (at the latest in the higher levels) and at the same time giving them the impression that magic is something rare and wondrous - even if they carry more magic with them then some cities have ever housed inside their walls.
Jamallo Kreen: I really like your idea of someone coming for a "looted" spellbook. There's one problem I have with this scheme, though: How do these "someones" locate the tome? I know there's the locate item spell, but even with other divinations I don't feel like my players will be able to suspend their disbelieve when someone suddenly shows up and demands something the spellbook they just recently looted or found...
I think the players will just see it as their DM's scheme to part them from some magic. What I am looking for is a believable way for NPCs to learn that something is in the possession of the party and - even more important: A way for the players to recognize that, so that they don't have to believe that the villain has some means of locating it but also get a glimpse of what these means are. ...without, of course, getting too close a look on these means. We don't want them to employ the same tactics lest the party ends up with even MORE magic! |
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Hoondatha
Great Reader
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 12 Feb 2008 : 19:18:30
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There are a couple of options. First, the book could have been hidden in a lair warded against scrying, so the seekers couldn't find it until the PC's removed it. That's if they're actively scanning for it regularly, which is probably fairly rare.
What's more likely is that your players use the spells that are found in the spellbook, and word gets around. This works primarily for unique spells that don't look much like more common spells. For instance, one spellbook I saw had a burning hands varient that instead of a wave had a stream of fire come out of your index finger, that you then waved around rapidly. Only one wizard researched that change, so if a wizard uses it, it's a fairly good chance he found the missing spellbook.
If your PC's use unique magic in the presence of others, and then one of the seeking mages wanders through while they're still talking about it (which, in more remote areas, could be YEARS later), they can put two and two together and start actively searching.
Once your PC's have been burned by this once (have the seeker boast about tracking the use of the magic, or whatever), it will lead to an interesting choice the next time they find a spellbook with unique spells: do they use it, and risk someone coming after them, or do they trade it away and let someone else deal with the problems? |
Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well. |
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Aureus
Learned Scribe
Luxembourg
125 Posts |
Posted - 12 Feb 2008 : 21:37:47
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| Isn't it possible to copy the spell into another spellbook? what would be the costs? |
That is not the weirdest thing that happened to me |
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2008 : 07:27:36
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quote:
Originally posted by tauster
(snip)
Jamallo Kreen: I really like your idea of someone coming for a "looted" spellbook. There's one problem I have with this scheme, though: How do these "someones" locate the tome? I know there's the locate item spell, but even with other divinations I don't feel like my players will be able to suspend their disbelieve when someone suddenly shows up and demands something the spellbook they just recently looted or found...
I think the players will just see it as their DM's scheme to part them from some magic. What I am looking for is a believable way for NPCs to learn that something is in the possession of the party and - even more important: A way for the players to recognize that, so that they don't have to believe that the villain has some means of locating it but also get a glimpse of what these means are. ...without, of course, getting too close a look on these means. We don't want them to employ the same tactics lest the party ends up with even MORE magic!
The party found The Book of the Silver Talon and many other fabulous treasures while looting ... er ... exploring a wizard's tower which they discovered. The wizard had been close to a century old (maybe older) and theeesclose to Epic level when a Tuigan arrow killed his familiar; he survived the shock for a few hours and then had the dignity to die seated on his throne, his dead familiar at his feet.
When the Pcs looted ... er ... examined his body, they discovered a greenstone amulet strapped to his arm. The more they plundered ... er ... explored, the more super-boss, ultra-keen, neato-o artifacts and rare magic items they found, including an Elven gemsword (see Ed's Lost Ships for details on that particular item). It didn't take them long to realize that few of the many, many abjuration spells were actually hurting them, and they finally deduced that this guy, a Summoner, had either been personally looting the Multiverse, or sending summoned and called minions to do it for him, and the moment the abjurations went down (or the greenstone amulet ceased to be in contact with him, then rival wizards would be free to scry the whole tower.
In fact, they have already encountered two people who had contingencies tied to this summoner: an arcane ("mercane") who had a contingency to alert him when the wizard's Xiphoid Xebec was activated (the tower is in the middle of Thesk, miles from any sizable body of water!), indicating that the summoner wanted to buy and install a spelljamming helm; unfortunately, no one the arcane spoke to had the foggiest idea what a spelljamming helm was, and they assumed that it was just a grotesquely overpriced throne for the ship (he had one in his tower, after all) and sent the arcane salesman on his way; the second visitor was a Red Wizard who had a contingency spell set to alert him the moment the summoner became visible to scrying (which happened when the PCs accidentally knocked the greenstone amulet from his arm. The Red Wizard wasn't a traveling salesman, unfortunately -- he came with eight darkenbeasts all primed with lethal or destructive spells, a swarm of flying monkeys (!) wearing little red coats and carrying short swords (they were short swords, by Tempus, not size Small long swords!). The Red Wizard himself came with a staff of lightning bolts, a ring of spell turning, and a large collection of super-dooper healing potions. He was most emphatic about wanting "the book," although he never made it clear which book of a hundred or more that he wanted. The PCs were so annoyed by his unannounced visit that they have decided to drop in on him during the next session.
All of the books, incidentally, were locked up in a very secure and inaccessible room with the party's highest-level wizard, who could not, therefore, partake in the battle itself, and received very little xp, and that from holding his ground while the Red Wizard tried to get into the hidden room (which he had just discovered by scrying on the PCs) by blasting away at it repeatedly with his staff, a plan which backfired spectacularly when he was confronted by a spell-loaded Maskarran cleric who also had a ring of spell turning -- one whose charges hadn't been used up!
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Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
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tauster
Senior Scribe
Germany
399 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2008 : 09:47:38
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Jamallo, thanks for sharing this story! I'll keep it in the back of my mind and will likely use it in one of my campaigns. 
I like the way you scavenge stuff from other settings (like the spelljamming helm and the arcane), that's similar to how I plunder ...er... borrow from other books.
If you still have notes from that episode and time to post these materials, I wouldn't mind seeing it with my own greedy eyes ...I mean: enjoying it in a thread in the "Adventuring" Journal.
Maybe its because I feel guilty for hijacking this thread: I just had an idea thats at least a bit related to the topic of spellbooks and individual spells. In our campaigns, the skill "spellcraft" (2E's version of "knowledge arcana", I guess) is rarely used*. One way to correct this would be the following:
You as the DM give out small snippets of information from time to time, or maybe between the RPG sessions. This setting-specific lore has nothing immediate to do with the campaign. It can be realmslore from Ed or other scribes or self-made stuff. Send it the players by email, post it on the group's own online board, etc. Note below the information the relevant skill. Tell the players that these snippets are examples of the broad general knowledge their characters have.
I don't think they will memorize all this stuff you give them (depending on whether you give them one piece of lore a week or flood them every second day with it). But some of the stuff will emerge back from their "subconscious" (for lack of a better term) when you tell them something in-play that relates to a specific snippet. If not, smile and remind them.
Giving out "general knowledge"-lore seems like it is a fantastic way to "indirectly" introduce NPC, spells, famous magic (or mundane) items, etc. I think if done long enough and consistently enough, the players will start drawing connections where even you as DM haven't foreseen any.
...ok, here's finally how my babble connects to selling and buying spellbooks. Sorry for the longwindedness.
By using the abovementioned method, the players will accept that other mages (or NPC in general) have a similar broad knowledge. Plant a situation early in the campaign where the party encounters someone who either uses a famous (low-level) spell and let them draw the conclusion that (s)he must possess a famous spellbook, or let this NPC contact the party. (S)he then ignorantly tries to sell the book to them - with the players knowing from their "general knowledge snippets" that it must contain something very special (a spell?) that the NPC is not aware off.
Later in the campaign, reverse the situation: Have the party in possession of such a "signature item" and inadvertently give away clues that point to them, if one had the general knowledge in question... When then suddenly people begin to pop up more and more often, they'll ask themselves what gives them away. Especially in higher levels when every character has several magic items, it can be quite confusing which item is the culprit! 
* Knowledge-based skills in general see only rare use in our campaigns - one of the longterm things I always want to change but never really get around to do it... I guess this idea can be used to remedy this lack. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2008 : 11:18:23
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quote:
Originally posted by Jamallo Kreen
When the Pcs looted ... er ... examined his body, they discovered a greenstone amulet strapped to his arm. The more they plundered ... er ... explored, the more super-boss, ultra-keen, neato-o artifacts and rare magic items they found, including an Elven gemsword (see Ed's Lost Ships for details on that particular item).
Ah, those are two favorite magic items. Seeing repeated references to greenstone amulets is what got me looking for FR4 The Magister. And gemswords are just really nifty. Those are my favorite non-ship items from Lost Ships. |
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shandiris
Seeker
61 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2008 : 14:22:46
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| altough the topic is going offtopic, I absolutely love your reactions and would like you to keep going. :) Thanks for all reactions, you gave me some great ideas. |
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2008 : 22:53:29
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quote:
Originally posted by tauster
Jamallo, thanks for sharing this story! I'll keep it in the back of my mind and will likely use it in one of my campaigns.
I like the way you scavenge stuff from other settings (like the spelljamming helm and the arcane), that's similar to how I plunder ...er... borrow from other books.
If you still have notes from that episode and time to post these materials, I wouldn't mind seeing it with my own greedy eyes ...I mean: enjoying it in a thread in the "Adventuring" Journal.
(snip)
Thank you for the compliment, but, to paraphrase Gold Hat: "Notes? I don't got to show you no stinkin' notes!" In fact, I rarely write up detailed notes before an adventure. Whatever I'm planning will be turned upside-down by the PCs, anyway, so I just plunge in on a wing and (several) prayers. The only preparation I did beforehand was for the treasure itself, its details, value, etc., and the adverse consequences of some of the items. (The Summoner had a Manual of Dogmatic Method, or whatever it's called, from the 2E Tome of Magic, and the players spent most of a session planning ever more grandiose schemes, only to repeatedly confront one obstacle: however effective the Methods were, they always required one material component which wasn't available -- even the spell to obtain any material component needed a component which they didn't have!)
I "wing it" all the time and toss out encounters at the party "on the fly." There is a standing house rule here that if I ever name a person, place, or thing, it's up to the players to write down the name, because I make up all but the "genuine" Realmsian ones as I go along, and I can't be slowed down to write a name which I have just made up. It takes a while, but the players learn.
As for Stone Tower (apparently its genuine and official name), the PCs spent weeks of real time looting ... ahem! ... exploring the place before they realized that although the wizard had a whole cabinet filled with both mundane and arcane spell components, and a reliable witness had told them that he used passwall regularly, they had never found even one "normal spellbook." Why? Because the hidden compartment for them was situated immediately behind a lovely secretary desk which not one person had bothered to move, although it was in constant use as people transcribed "rare" spells from the (formerly) well-hidden "secret" library into their own spellbooks. They were less than three feet from spellbooks containg standard PHB spells from 0 to 9th level, some of them AD&D spells. (And don't think that they haven't considered hurling 2E haste spells at the Red Wizard until he just dies from premature aging!)
I now wander off-topic and far afield: Please don't think that I'm cpmpletely ignorant of the rules just because I make stuff up as I go along. One defiant player all but dared me to try taking him out with a trap, shortly after which he was struck by an arrow from a trap, which he promptly pulled from his body despite the presence of a cleric with Profession (Healer) ranks standing right next to him. Did I mention that it was a barbed arrow and that he nearly killed himself pulling it out backwards? Later, still defiant, he made a snide comment about poisons, and guess which player was the one hit by the undead guard's poisoned weapon? He took a massive Con loss, followed by another massive Con loss which nearly killed him again, because he still hadn't recovered his hit points from pulling out the barbed arrow. Well, he whined and complained that there was no poison which could do that to him, blah, blah, blah, and I just shrugged off his complaints. Mercifully, he quit the game thereafter, just before the rest of the party found a collection of well-secured liquids in glass vials inside a dead box (also from Lost Ships ?). It took many, many game sessions before anyone bothered to analyze the liquids, and that only because they were looking for something nasty to use on their traveling Red Wizard. When they finally got around to the little bottle with the non-magical amber liquid, they discovered that it was giant scorpion venom, which causes massive Constitution damage and had, in fact, been on the sword of the undead guard. It's also 3,000 gold pieces a pop, which was why it had been stowed away out of sight (and invulnerable to scrying).
To return to our sheep, take a hint from Robert E. Howard's Box of Hadrathus (?) and have small items (such as spellbooks) defended by less-than-obvious traps (such as a small needle near a keyhole, harmless except for a lethal poison!).
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Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
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Edited by - Jamallo Kreen on 13 Feb 2008 22:58:56 |
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tauster
Senior Scribe
Germany
399 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2008 : 13:04:36
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Winging the adventure is one of the arrows in my quiver as well. Another one is that I usually prepare only a few things beforehand:
- maps (wizard's tower, possible battle scenes, dungeons, etc)
- NPC names (I'm terrible with names and have HUGE name lists from whih I chose the ones that sound "realmsian" enough)
- NPC motivations
The latter one is the most important one. If you know what the motivation (and character traits!) of "your guys" are, what means they have and how far they will go to achive their goals, you can react with greater flexibility to the player's actions. Most of the time I have only a rough idea how the story might continue and let the players decide their own direction.
The best thing is that my players are always discussing what to do next, so just by listening to them I get new ideas. Sometimes I twist the story just because their ideas are better than mine - and they feel happy afterwards because they "guessed right". ...but don't do that too often or the idea loses it's charm.
Anyway, for not posting completely off topic: Here is a spellbook-idea I used in my campaign.
My player's adventuring party of eight PC (seven of them are actively playing, one is temporarily inactive/retired) about level 10/11 has their homebase in western mistledale, or more exactly: the "wild land" between Tilver's Gap to the west and Peldan's Helm to the east*.
The party's two mages invested a part of their loot in a run-down farm and converted it to fit their needs: nice furniture, a laboratory, stuff mages generally want. On one rainy night during a thunderstorm (yes, sometimes it has to be cliche'ed! ), one of the wizards looked out of his window and noticed that lightnings stroke several times in roughly the same area, coming slowly nearer to the farm - lighnings that seemed to origninate near the ground and stay there... A while later it knocked on the door and a stranger stood outside, clearly visible signs of very recent battle all over him.
He was invited in, introduced himself as "Manon Hos" or something like that**. While sipping a warm tea and eating a simple but good night meal, he told that he awoke in a cave, not knowing where he was, how he came here and what happened lately in his live. From his sketchy memories, from what he suddenly discovered he knew and most important, from the stuff that was carefully stored inside the cave he concluded that he must be a wizard. He further guessed that some kind of contingency spell must have been responsible for him awaking there.
After being a while in the small cave, he found that he could read the spellbooks there, began to study...and discovered two important things:
First, he missed most of the material components and second, one of the cavewalls was very thin. On the other side, he could hear voices. Voices that sounded like goblinoid...
To cut a long story short: He prepared what spells he could (and what material components he had), stuffed everything valuable and useful in a backpack, burst through the wall ...and faced a tribe of very surprised goblins. He was, of course, immediately attacked (what do you expect when you suddenly appear deep inside a goblin lair?) and fought his way out, not knowing where he was. The tribe's warriors pursued him for hours and days, so he fled in a straight line out of the mountains, running east all the time. From time to time they would catch up, but until now he could defend himself with his spells (thus the weird lightning a while back).
To cut the story even more short: The mysterious wizard (tm) asked the mage if he could take refugee here and stay here for a few days to recover. He had no real clue about his past, no time to properly learn his spells, etc... Naturally, the partie's mages agreed (even if they resolved to watch this guy VERY closely). The stranger thanked them profusely and went to bed. Next day, he asked them another favor: He needed material components, lots of them***. He had a few gems to cover the costs and a *drumm roll* magical spellbook he would give to one of them as a reward.
The mages sent one of their apprentices to buy what could not be fetched elswhere (like bat guano) and received a rare and wondrous item of elvish magic: a sheet of crystal with a set of delicate chisel. He explained that he had an identical one that he used as his spellbook, etching the spells in the crystal with several types of gem dust. The crystal would "heal" the scratches and could display the inscribed spells later on. While the gem dust was quite expensive (but not more than the usual inks needed), the advantage was that the "crystal spellbook" was quite sturdy and immune to fire, water and acid. ...oh, and it seems like it could store an unknown amount of spells, by the way...
My mages agreed, decided who would get the superduper spellbook and the happy winner uses it ever since. The stranger left the mage's farm shortly later, thanking them sincerely and promising to return when he could. He was not seen ever since...
That was a few months back, in 1370 or 1371. What the players, who did of course not bother to anagram-check the names of every NPC, do not know nor suspect is that they have met one of the Manshoon clones. The story with the goblin lair was correct, but Manshoon did of course not reveal that his crystal spellbook is linked with the PC's book, showing him every spell our wizard incribes. At the moment, Manshooon is content with easily aquiring new spells that way and has decided not to bother the party. But of course that can change in the blink of an eye...
* I inserted the Night Below boxed set, an huge underdark-centered adventure bringing the players from level 1 to 10. Because I added lots of sidetracks, we are about halfway through and they have already reached that level, forcing me to adapt the later ancounters a bit. ...but I degress... 
Fyi, here's our map: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23109322@N00/2233215340/sizes/l/
** Anagram-loving players have a definite advantage, sometimes...
*** I prepared a list beforehand by looking through the PHB and deciding what spells a level umpteen mage with decades of being on top of a large network might have. More on that later... |
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4689 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2008 : 13:18:43
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quote:
Originally posted by Aureus
Isn't it possible to copy the spell into another spellbook? what would be the costs?
Yes
quote:
Spells Copied from Another’s Spellbook or a Scroll
A wizard can also add a spell to her book whenever she encounters one on a magic scroll or in another wizard’s spellbook. No matter what the spell’s source, the wizard must first decipher the magical writing (see Arcane Magical Writings, above). Next, she must spend a day studying the spell. At the end of the day, she must make a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell’s level). A wizard who has specialized in a school of spells gains a +2 bonus on the Spellcraft check if the new spell is from her specialty school. She cannot, however, learn any spells from her prohibited schools. If the check succeeds, the wizard understands the spell and can copy it into her spellbook (see Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook, below). The process leaves a spellbook that was copied from unharmed, but a spell successfully copied from a magic scroll disappears from the parchment.
If the check fails, the wizard cannot understand or copy the spell. She cannot attempt to learn or copy that spell again until she gains another rank in Spellcraft. A spell that was being copied from a scroll does not vanish from the scroll.
In most cases, wizards charge a fee for the privilege of copying spells from their spellbooks. This fee is usually equal to the spell’s level × 50 gp.
The cost would be quote:
Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook
Once a wizard understands a new spell, she can record it into her spellbook.
Time
The process takes 24 hours, regardless of the spell’s level.
...
Materials and Costs
Materials for writing the spell cost 100 gp per page.
Note that a wizard does not have to pay these costs in time or gold for the spells she gains for free at each new level.
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"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards."
"Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding.
"After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first."
"Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon |
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2008 : 07:31:50
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Oh, tauster, that's rich! We're nowhere in time near the Manshoon Wars yet, but when we are, I'm definitely stealing that story, so I give you credit for it now, far, far, far in advance!
Apropos of crystal spellbooks, there is a pdf or two about them, but I fear opening them up now lest I crash my oh-so-delicate browser. (Appl. Safari 1.0. Then Safari 2.0. They couldn't make a version 1.5 to fix the dozens of bugs ... er ... features, , could they? Nooooo....}
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I have a mouth, but I am in a library and must not scream.
Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
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Selling and Buying Spellbooks
