Wizards - Learning Spells

[Reynard_the_fox]

I'm going to start playing a wizard soon, and I was curious about something. How do you guys and your DMs treat learning new spells as a wizard? By default you only get two new ones per level - hardly better than a sorcerer.

I know the default ways are stealing other wizards' spellbooks, finding scrolls, and recording them from other wizards' spellbooks. I'd much prefer the last, as it's very cheap and you get to choose what spells you get; but how often do your DMs let you do so?

The wizard I'm playing is going to be a Conjuration: Creation specialist - he's (I'm) all about finding unique solutions and fun spell combinations (Stinking Cloud + Summon Monster for earth elemental + Create Pit, anyone?), so I'd really like to be able to pick and choose from the whole spell list.

[wraithstrike]

The spell list takes time to build up, and they are cheap to buy and record into the spell book.

I throw in the occasional spellbook from an opposing wizard, but I don't do it a lot.

[Reynard_the_fox]

Hmm, I also just found there's a 3.5 feat called Collegiate Wizard that doubles your spells learned each level - might be handy for a stingy DM, assuming they let you take it.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/6972-13-collegiate-wizard-feat

Of course, the backstory for my wizard DOES make him a sheltered but unloved bookworm that grew up in a magical college, so... (he's adventuring because he read comic books about Merlin, lol)

[Drejk]

IIRC Human Wizard can spend his favored class bonus to get more spells.
Personally I always focused on getting my hands on scrolls in every possible way and adding them to spellbook, I never considered spells gained at each level a source of spells.

[Deadmanwalking]

Using the spellcasting available based on town size in the settlement rules plus the listed costs in the spellbooks section, filling out a spellbook should be relatively simple and fairly cheap most places, just not doable in the middle of a dungeon.

Of course, your GM may be stingier than that, but I'm usually not (well, not with 4th level spells and lower anyway).

[Corlindale]

Scrolls are your best bet. In my experience most GMs don't like to let wizards hire other wizards to "rent" their spellbooks, so count on scrolls as the safe bet, even if they're more expensive.

And sometimes you get spellbooks as loot - you don't get to choose here, but you might get lucky. And might as well scribe everything in there, if you have the time.

[leo1925]

Trading spells with other wizards (and magi) and/or paying a fee to let you copy it from their spellbook.
Also the spellbooks of fallen wizards, you can very easily prepare spells from their book or you can just copy what you want and then sell the spellbook.
Scrolls SHOULDN'T be your main source for spells, scrolls are expensive and should be used in the field and not for copying a spell.