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Jakuta Khan
Senior Scribe
496 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Jun 2011 : 16:44:17
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Hi all, just wondered if the fabricate spell coldbe used to write and copy books in a fast way???
couldbe working, u need paper, ink, leather and then you could start.
looking forward to replies
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3740 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jun 2011 : 16:54:29
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| -I'd rule it, why not. There's nothing in the spell's description that makes me think you can't do that. It specifically says, "You convert material of one sort into a product that is of the same material." If you have paper, ink, leather, and whatever else, that's all you need to bind a book. The iffy part, I guess, is turning the ink in a vial into written words on a piece of paper, but this is a 5th Level spell, so I think that that much can be handwaved as the caster imagines what he wants to be written, and it appears. |
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Elves of Faerūn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerūn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium |
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4687 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jun 2011 : 17:33:05
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This appears to work for mundane items, the spell will not work to copy a spell book (a magical item).
A book on the travels of Volo could be copied for example, or other chap books that float though the Realms. |
"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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Aldrick
Senior Scribe
909 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jun 2011 : 17:39:31
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Hmm... Very tricky. Here is what I'd say.
1. This would not work on a magical tome or book. This is clearly stated within the spell: "Creatures or magic items cannot be created or transmuted by the fabricate spell." As a result, the book must be mundane.
2. I may or may not require a craft check, depending upon the quality of the book you intend to fabricate. However, for a basic or poor quality book you could certainly use the spell to fabricate a book (with blank pages) in this way.
3. The difficulty arrives - and perhaps the greatest amount of disagreement - in whether or not you can also fabricate the words of a mundane book onto the pages. I would rule that there are one of two ways that you can go about doing this. First, you can fabricate the words from memory, but unless you can repeat everything verbatim there will naturally be mistakes. A dedicated scribe would do a better job. Second, since the casting time of the spell is variable, I would rule that if you have the original copy in front of you, that you could read the original copy and as you read it, the words would magically appear within the new tome. However! The accuracy of doing this would depend entirely on how fast you read the book. If you take your time, focusing clearly upon each word before going to the next, then you could be certain to have a high degree of accuracy - roughly or equally as good as a normal scribe. If you move quickly through a book - as if you were doing a normal reading - then the accuracy of your work decreases.
In the end, the advantage of using fabricate to duplicate a mundane tome is that you can do so without using your hands. You could also duplicate a tome that you haven't read before, thus making a copy as you read... perhaps to share with others. This would be very useful and valuable to someone who worships say - Deneir or Oghma, as surely many Wizards do.
This keeps economic balance. Wizards who use the spell aren't going to replace scribes and book binders, they'd just become scribes with magic. |
Edited by - Aldrick on 11 Jun 2011 17:44:20 |
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Jakuta Khan
Senior Scribe
496 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jun 2011 : 18:18:08
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good replies so far,
I'd agree to say only mundane works.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36800 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jun 2011 : 18:51:00
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| I personally would say that you could make blank books, and that you'd need other magic or manual labor to copy the words. There's a difference between manufacturing and photocopying. |
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Rhewtani
Senior Scribe
USA
508 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2011 : 17:26:44
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| Specifically, isn't this what amanuesis is for? |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2011 : 18:54:49
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| Fabricate, at least the original version in Unearthed Arcana, produces goods made of a single substance. |
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KaizokuVizard
Acolyte
14 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jun 2011 : 08:43:08
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Note to self: Read entire topic before doing work. I went and found my password/account for this place, since I couldn't remember it. (Long story short: Hackers bad. Changed everything so I couldn't remember which set this one used)
Anyway. I did it to post what no one else had, Amanuesis (Spell Compendium) but low and behold, it already was posted.
So, yes. Why use Fabricate, when Amanuesis is already designed to do what you want. As a cantrip, no less. |
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Jakuta Khan
Senior Scribe
496 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jun 2011 : 09:16:55
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good point there.....
did not know of the spells existance.. thx for this, too. |
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shandiris
Seeker
61 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jun 2011 : 17:26:24
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I personally would say that you could make blank books, and that you'd need other magic or manual labor to copy the words. There's a difference between manufacturing and photocopying.
That's how I would rule it, and how my current DM is ruling it.
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jun 2011 : 06:02:14
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| There is another spell called Scribe(level 3) from the Ultimate Arcane Spellbook (d20 system) that does the same thing. It can copy an entire book, complete with any illustrations, provided that all the needed materials are present. (If you only have black ink, you can't do a color illustration, for example.) That tome also contains several other spells of note for would-be scribes using magic- Secret Page(level 3 spell), which can alter the contents of a page to appear as something different; Summarize(cantrip), which allows a caster to touch a book and know its general contents; Restore Page (level 3) and Restore Book( level 6), both of which can restore written works to their original states, even if only a portion of it remains, even magical scrolls or books. (Though they will not restore spells to scrolls that have been used!); and Stand the Test of Time (level 1), which makes an object immune to the ravages of time. Resist Water(another cantrip!) is another helpful one for keeping books from being ruined by rain or being dropped in water. Any wizard worth his salt should have at least one or two of these spells, along with one of my personal favorites, Bigby's Bookworm Bane! (This one is from 2nd ed, from the Complete Wizards' Spell Compendium.) |
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Gray Richardson
Master of Realmslore
USA
1291 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jun 2011 : 17:05:12
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There is a monster called an odopi in the Monster Manual 3. It's a sphere arms, scores of them, emanating from a central hub, looking a little like a big scary tumbleweed. Each arm has hand with big talons and an eyeball right in the center of each palm. Here's a picture: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mmiii_gallery/83028.jpg
In my campaign, Deneir brought some to the House of Knowledge and adapted and bred them into a peaceful, helpful creature called a "scribner" that scrambles around the libraries and obsessively sorts and alphabetizes books and makes copies. It's long talons bifurcate slightly, split in the manner of a quill pen to hold ink, and they file them to different nib-widths and angles. Their venom glands have been adapted to produce inks in various colors. The eyeball on each hand helps to guide the nimble talons to reproduce writing to the most exacting of standards. Depending on the number of arms, one can make a hundred copies or more at a time.
These creatures are found all over the House of Knowledge and serve Deneir, Oghma, and Gond. Sometimes they can be found in temples to these gods and certain libraries. Professional scribes and copy houses use them to make copies of books, maps, and documents.
There is a spell you can use to summon a scribner. No one in my campaign ever actually summoned one or tried to learn the spell, so I never pegged it to a given level or figured out the duration. But it was something that was possible and in the background. |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jun 2011 : 06:57:15
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| There are yet other spells for this purpose as well, including the 2E 1st level wizard spell copy. My personal favourite from the variety would be undead scribe, a 3rd level necromantic spell which animates a single skeleton to sit indefinitely at a desk and scribe things as they are spoken aloud or read from other writings. Mostly because the spell components include a scribe's cloak ... add in some metal plating with a variety of nasty-looking meaningless runes carved into it, reddish continual light around the eyesockets, and maybe a little bit of creative fun with programmed illusion and magic mouth ... et voilą, instantly stylish menacing appearance which makes this lowly photocopier into an accessory any necro would be proud to own. |
[/Ayrik] |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11817 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2011 : 17:29:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Gray Richardson
There is a monster called an odopi in the Monster Manual 3. It's a sphere arms, scores of them, emanating from a central hub, looking a little like a big scary tumbleweed. Each arm has hand with big talons and an eyeball right in the center of each palm. Here's a picture: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mmiii_gallery/83028.jpg
In my campaign, Deneir brought some to the House of Knowledge and adapted and bred them into a peaceful, helpful creature called a "scribner" that scrambles around the libraries and obsessively sorts and alphabetizes books and makes copies. It's long talons bifurcate slightly, split in the manner of a quill pen to hold ink, and they file them to different nib-widths and angles. Their venom glands have been adapted to produce inks in various colors. The eyeball on each hand helps to guide the nimble talons to reproduce writing to the most exacting of standards. Depending on the number of arms, one can make a hundred copies or more at a time.
These creatures are found all over the House of Knowledge and serve Deneir, Oghma, and Gond. Sometimes they can be found in temples to these gods and certain libraries. Professional scribes and copy houses use them to make copies of books, maps, and documents.
There is a spell you can use to summon a scribner. No one in my campaign ever actually summoned one or tried to learn the spell, so I never pegged it to a given level or figured out the duration. But it was something that was possible and in the background.
Milil had similar creatures, but each appendage ended in a mouth and they could all work together to be a one creature chorus. It was all grand until the day a male follower of Sharess showed up and captured one and enslaved it in his temple..... not a pretty sight. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Farrel
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
239 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2011 : 17:48:38
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quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
Milil had similar creatures, but each appendage ended in a mouth and they could all work together to be a one creature chorus. It was all grand until the day a male follower of Sharess showed up and captured one and enslaved it in his temple..... not a pretty sight.
Thanks for the mental image 
I just sprayed my coffee everywhere  |
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Fabrictae - Useful to copy books?
