Skinsaw Murders treasure question (spoilers)

[Fromper]

So Justice Ironbrar has a wizard spellbook in his treasure. My party's only arcane caster is a sorceress, so nobody in the group can use it. I'm assuming someone else out there has done the math on how much they should be able to sell it for. Anyone want to save me the trouble and tell me what it's worth?

[Story Archer]

Fromper wrote:

So Justice Ironbrar has a wizard spellbook in his treasure. My party's only arcane caster is a sorceress, so nobody in the group can use it. I'm assuming someone else out there has done the math on how much they should be able to sell it for. Anyone want to save me the trouble and tell me what it's worth?

I'm about to run this AP for the second time (though this time with heavy modifications and for a new group), and none of my players are running a Witch or Wizard. As such, I'll be customizing treasure for them along the way, ignoring items as listed in the AP and using my own judgment as to what the appropriate level/amount of gear is.

As to spellbooks specifically, I've always had a hard time figuring their worth - the few times I've seen them priced out, they've seemed woefully lower than what I'd expect to learn an extensive number of new spells basically forever. In our home campaign, Wizards have to spend time and energy studying, practicing and learning new spells and that takes the form of the 2/level that they already get to add to their spellbook - the ability to automatically add anything else they come across is disregarded, though school specialists get an additional 1 school spell per level they may add as well (including @ 1st). That might seem limiting but Wizards still end up with customized spellbooks that contain an average 8 spells at 1st level and 40+ spells at 12th level (not including cantrips) which has proven more than adequate thus far.

[Misroi]

I don't recall exactly what's in that spellbook, but I did a quick formulation for you. Since you can sell a spellbook for half the cost of purchasing and inscribing the spells within, you get something like this:

8.75gp/0-level spell (based on CRB only, that's 183.75, but it'll be higher if you use the complete list)

17.5gp/1st-level spell

95gp/2nd-level spell

232.5/3rd-level spell

Additionally, you might throw in 7.5gp for the spellbook itself. You're selling them the jewels inside the safe as well as the safe itself.

[Wiggz]

Misroi wrote:

I don't recall exactly what's in that spellbook, but I did a quick formulation for you. Since you can sell a spellbook for half the cost of purchasing and inscribing the spells within, you get something like this:

8.75gp/0-level spell (based on CRB only, that's 183.75, but it'll be higher if you use the complete list)

17.5gp/1st-level spell

95gp/2nd-level spell

232.5/3rd-level spell

Additionally, you might throw in 7.5gp for the spellbook itself. You're selling them the jewels inside the safe as well as the safe itself.

How much would a 3rd level scroll (1 use) cost as opposed a spellbook with a 3rd level spell inscribed in it (lifetime use)?

[Majuba]

Misroi wrote:

I don't recall exactly what's in that spellbook, but I did a quick formulation for you. Since you can sell a spellbook for half the cost of purchasing and inscribing the spells within, you get something like this:

8.75gp/0-level spell (based on CRB only, that's 183.75, but it'll be higher if you use the complete list)

17.5gp/1st-level spell

95gp/2nd-level spell

232.5/3rd-level spell

This is not correct. The price of selling a spellbook is half the cost to inscribe, not half the scroll cost + inscribe cost. I've run into this misunderstanding before oddly.

You sell spellbooks at:
2.5 gp/0th
5 gp / 1st
20gp / 2nd
45gp / 3rd
80gp / 4th
125gp/ 5th
180gp/ 6th
245gp/ 7th
360gp/ 8th
405gp/ 9th

[Misroi]

So, this is incorrect, then?

PRD wrote:

Selling a Spellbook

Captured spellbooks can be sold for an amount equal to half the cost of purchasing and inscribing the spells within.

If your numbers are right, then what does the "purchasing" half of that mean?

[Misroi]

Wiggz wrote:

Misroi wrote:

I don't recall exactly what's in that spellbook, but I did a quick formulation for you. Since you can sell a spellbook for half the cost of purchasing and inscribing the spells within, you get something like this:

8.75gp/0-level spell (based on CRB only, that's 183.75, but it'll be higher if you use the complete list)

17.5gp/1st-level spell

95gp/2nd-level spell

232.5/3rd-level spell

Additionally, you might throw in 7.5gp for the spellbook itself. You're selling them the jewels inside the safe as well as the safe itself.

How much would a 3rd level scroll (1 use) cost as opposed a spellbook with a 3rd level spell inscribed in it (lifetime use)?

Scrolls cost 25 gp times the level of the spell times the caster level, so barring someone scribing a scroll at a higher CL than minimum, it's 25x3x5, or 375 gp. Inscription cost is 90gp, which makes the total cost of a 3rd level spell in a book 465gp. Half of that is 232.5gp.

[Kalshane]

The thing is, not every spell is scribed from a scroll. As mentioned before, wizards get two free spells every level, plus they can copy from another wizard's spellbook. So the scroll cost really shouldn't be taken into account when calculating the price of a spellbook.

PRD wrote:

In most cases, wizards charge a fee for the privilege of copying spells from their spellbooks. This fee is usually equal to half the cost to write the spell into a spellbook (see Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook). Rare and unique spells might cost significantly more.

So you're looking at the cost of scribing the spell, plus half the price again for the "copying fee" (so 1.5 times the cost of writing the spell) divided in half for selling it (or you can just do .75 the writing cost.)

So the total sell value of the book per spell would be:

0 3.75 gp
1 7.5 gp
2 30 gp
3 67.5 gp
4 120 gp
5 187.5 gp
6 270 gp
7 367.5 gp
8 480 gp
9 607.5 gp

[Fromper]

Kalshane's answer sounds good to me, based on my reading of the Core Rulebook.

The spellbook in the original question has these spells:

1 chill touch
1 enlarge person
1 grease
1 mage armor
1 magic missile
1 shocking grasp
2 cat’s grace
2 fox’s cunning
2 scorching ray
2 spider climb
2 web
3 blink
3 haste
3 lightning bolt
3 shrink item

That's 6 spells at level 1, 5 at level 2, and 4 at level 3. So the total sale value based on Kalshane's method, and factoring in the 7.5 gp for the spellbook itself, is 472.5. To make things easy in this adventure, since my group would just sell the spellbook, I might just say they find 500 gp in gems.