So my group is starting a new campaign so that I can be a player for a while. My character's name is Bartleby the Scrivener; he's a bitter and cynical wizard with hourglass eyes. (Bonus points if you caught either of those references.) I have a great backstory involving a near-death experience and a subsequent obsession with avoiding death and finding a way to become immortal. Anyway I asked our DM if we could play using a house rule so that Bartleby's spell book actually serves a purpose rather than being just a limited memory medieval computer, but I don't think she's going to allow the house rule. So I want to come up with a creative and humorous reason why Bartleby's spell book would "forget" spells as he gains in knowledge (levels). I don't want to annoy our DM, but I do want to role play this in a way that screams LOOK HOW RIDICULOUS MY SPELL BOOK IS!!! Any ideas?
TS
Probably not what you're looking for, but as a DM I would find a player RPing in such a way annoying in and of itself. YMMV, of course, so maybe your DM would appreciate the joke better.
Cheers! :)
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I don't want to annoy our DM, but I do want to role play this in a way that screams LOOK HOW RIDICULOUS MY SPELL BOOK IS!!! Any ideas?
Ummm ...
Maybe the spell book is some sort of alternate reality living being that has established a sort of cursed, symbiotic relationship with Barty ... every 30 days it "consumes" or absorbs the first page of the book and produces a new blank sheet in the back? So he's always on a race against time to add a new spell to his book before he loses the next one?Hey! Don't look at me that way - you asked!
<sulk>
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Probably not what you're looking for, but as a DM I would find a player RPing in such a way annoying in and of itself. YMMV, of course, so maybe your DM would appreciate the joke better.
Cheers! :)
The sad thing is that, once again, an overly gamist concept rears its ugly head in 4E, requiring shenanigans to justify it and a hefty will save to avoid making fun of it. It's not a joke. He's just giving a nod to how ridiculous the wizard's self-deleting spellbook is. The best way to reasonably role-play this is to just have him "forget" to use the lower level spells becaue they aren't powerful enough to be worth "memorizing" anymore.
I got the Melville. Are these bonus points like Skiball tickets? Because I'd love to be able to buy a bobblehead troll.
Ever see Bartleby, a modern adaptation with Crispin Glover in the lead? Worth watching, I thought.
I don't want to annoy our DM, but I do want to role play this in a way that screams LOOK HOW RIDICULOUS MY SPELL BOOK IS!!! Any ideas?Ummm ...
Maybe the spell book is some sort of alternate reality living being that has established a sort of cursed, symbiotic relationship with Barty ... every 30 days it "consumes" or absorbs the first page of the book and produces a new blank sheet in the back? So he's always on a race against time to add a new spell to his book before he loses the next one?Hey! Don't look at me that way - you asked!
<sulk>
Ooh, I like the idea of a living spell book. With a bad attitude...
Bartleby: Okay Book, open up. It's time to prep for today.
Book: What's wrong with the spells you have memorized now?
Bartleby: We're going into the mountains today so I want to memorize Feather Fall incase things get ugly.
Book: Ugly like this 'adventure' has been, or ugly like your face?
Bartleby: Ugly like your ink stains and ripped pages.
Book: Hey if you don't like me, get another spell book!
Bartleby: Because you eat them, the poor buggers.
Book: Hehe, yeah that last 'diary' that you tried to sneak in the pack with me was especially tasty.
Bartley: Where is Feather Fall? It should be on page 17, have you been switching pages around again?
Book: Gee I dunno...*burp*
Of course I won't role play these arguments out, but Bartleby's companions will hear him muttering angrily at his book every morning.
I got the Melville. Are these bonus points like Skiball tickets? Because I'd love to be able to buy a bobblehead troll.
Actually, they're Walmart gift cards. *surprised* What, you don't like shopping sprees for cheap plastic crap?!
I'm not surprised they made a Bartleby film; is it anything like the short story? 'Cause if it is I'll probably turn it off after ten minutes.
TS
I got the Melville. Are these bonus points like Skiball tickets? Because I'd love to be able to buy a bobblehead troll.Actually, they're Walmart gift cards. *surprised* What, you don't like shopping sprees for cheap plastic crap?!
I'm not surprised they made a Bartleby film; is it anything like the short story? 'Cause if it is I'll probably turn it off after ten minutes.
TS
LOL on the Wal*Mart bit.
It often falls back on a single line from the short story in a way that's a bit absurdist, but I could deal and it was a little slice of something very different supplying an ever-winching sense of trouble and revelation.
I got the Melville. Are these bonus points like Skiball tickets? Because I'd love to be able to buy a bobblehead troll.Actually, they're Walmart gift cards. *surprised* What, you don't like shopping sprees for cheap plastic crap?!
I'm not surprised they made a Bartleby film; is it anything like the short story? 'Cause if it is I'll probably turn it off after ten minutes.
TS
LOL on the Wal*Mart bit.
It often falls back on a single line from the short story in a way that's a bit absurdist, but I could deal and it was a little slice of something very different supplying an ever-winching sense of trouble and revelation.
See I don't envision that the spell 'disappears' (regardless of what the PHB says) I just figure the mage cannot retain the complicated formulas for the previous(now lost) spell in favour of the formulas for the new spell that replaced it.
After all you could retrain and recover the 'old spell' and drop the new one.I work in computers and I cannot remember all the details of my job due to how complicated it is( I deal with servers,web access and a lot more) so I need to reference back to my documents to remember stuff.
The mage is the same the way I see it.
Just ignore the 'spell is deleted' line in the PHB.
So my group is starting a new campaign so that I can be a player for a while. My character's name is Bartleby the Scrivener; he's a bitter and cynical wizard with hourglass eyes. (Bonus points if you caught either of those references.) I have a great backstory involving a near-death experience and a subsequent obsession with avoiding death and finding a way to become immortal.
TS
Raistlin Majere.
I got the Melville. Are these bonus points like Skiball tickets? Because I'd love to be able to buy a bobblehead troll.Actually, they're Walmart gift cards. *surprised* What, you don't like shopping sprees for cheap plastic crap?!
I'm not surprised they made a Bartleby film; is it anything like the short story? 'Cause if it is I'll probably turn it off after ten minutes.
TS
LOL on the Wal*Mart bit.
It often falls back on a single line from the short story in a way that's a bit absurdist, but I could deal and it was a little slice of something very different supplying an ever-winching sense of trouble and revelation.
See I don't envision that the spell 'disappears' (regardless of what the PHB says) I just figure the mage cannot retain the complicated formulas for the previous(now lost) spell in favour of the formulas for the new spell that replaced it.
After all you could retrain and recover the 'old spell' and drop the new one.
I work in computers and I cannot remember all the details of my job due to how complicated it is( I deal with servers,web access and a lot more) so I need to reference back to my documents to remember stuff.
The mage is the same the way I see it.
Just ignore the 'spell is deleted' line in the PHB.
You make your first swap of spells at 13th level. I have no doubt that the vast majority of players swap out a first level power for a 13th level one.
In light of this I simply let the players keep the first level power in their spell book - at any time they can choose to memorise their 1st level power instead of their 13th level one...however, since no player would actually go on a serous adventure with a 1st level combat power instead of a 13th level one it basically does not come up in game.
There, everyone wins. The mage has their spell, but its never actually used.
So my group is starting a new campaign so that I can be a player for a while. My character's name is Bartleby the Scrivener; he's a bitter and cynical wizard with hourglass eyes. (Bonus points if you caught either of those references.) I have a great backstory involving a near-death experience and a subsequent obsession with avoiding death and finding a way to become immortal. Anyway I asked our DM if we could play using a house rule so that Bartleby's spell book actually serves a purpose rather than being just a limited memory medieval computer, but I don't think she's going to allow the house rule. So I want to come up with a creative and humorous reason why Bartleby's spell book would "forget" spells as he gains in knowledge (levels). I don't want to annoy our DM, but I do want to role play this in a way that screams LOOK HOW RIDICULOUS MY SPELL BOOK IS!!! Any ideas?
TS
Inherited from a particularly obsessive uncle this tome, one of many was passed into his hands along with a recipe for a particular form of alchemy.
Researching the scrap of manuscript he figured out it was a form of longevity and chose to test it even though he was far from powerful enough by his order's recogning.Finally he completed what he thought the alchemy was intended to produce and when bottling it he inadvertedly splashed some of the formulae on his inherited tome which to that point he believed to be a simple beginner's spellbook.
However matters went worse when he tried to potion and passed out.
He awoke days later feeling dreadful but found matters were far worse than he thought for he found he was now looking out from the inherited spellbook looking out over his body, forcing himself he found he could return his spirit to his original body and over time realised his poor understanding of the recipe had resulted in turning the spellbook into a sort of Phylactery except whilst it kept him alive it also meant it was now his true body and its condition also mirrored his true physical condition his original body stopped aging for in truth it was only being animated by his spirit he had to keep his tome near or at least someplace safe and more important he found the spells within had to be updated to sustain himself all he hoped for was time to find a cure for his state for it was only a matter of time before either his original body wore out or his new body was damaged and destroyed which meant a far worse fate for him as his mind and spirit was tied to the tome far closer than his true humanoid form had been.
Just as he originally sought to understand the arcane arts he know desperately seeks a cure and finds the search prolongs his life as the accumulated knowledge slows down his mental and spiritual atrophy since the phylactery is far more vulnerable than the completed ritual should have been.
Hows that a bit long winded but should give a few ideas...
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See I don't envision that the spell 'disappears' (regardless of what the PHB says) I just figure the mage cannot retain the complicated formulas for the previous(now lost) spell in favour of the formulas for the new spell that replaced it.
After all you could retrain and recover the 'old spell' and drop the new one.
I work in computers and I cannot remember all the details of my job due to how complicated it is( I deal with servers,web access and a lot more) so I need to reference back to my documents to remember stuff.
The mage is the same the way I see it.
Just ignore the 'spell is deleted' line in the PHB.Yeah, something like this.
I've always found wizard magic somewhat odd, since it involves memorizing spells that then... simply vanish from their mind once used. So I'd use some similar logic with how the spellbook works.
Perhaps there is a level of magic in the inscription itself, and the wizard draws forth some of this when they memorize spells each day. And that when they attain a new level of mastery, and are placing new spells in the spellbook, they might need to expend the entirety of the magic already placed within some spells, in order to inscribe new, more powerful material within the spellbook.
Actually, they don't memorize spells that disappear. They do the actual casing and preparation of the spells while they are memorizing (which is really a misleading term) them. When they "cast" the spell, they are just activating the trigger that causes the energy of the spell to be released. It's a time consuming and mentaling draining exercise that can only be done once per day.
Yeah I could assume that 'forgotten' spells are merely passed over for better ones, or turned into better ones as a result of experience and research. But it still doesn't explain why Bartleby can't add spells to his spell book from looted spell books or research. We've gone over this ad nauseam in a previous thread; there are all sorts of bizarre explanations for the 4e spell book but all of them are too obviously explanations of a rule rather than part of a fantasy world.
Raistlin Majere.
Walmart gift cards for you too! No? How about Target? Ooh, I have a Hot Topic card with $2.64 left...um, no I don't shop there...I found it, yeah. Still no? Well I have a puke green d12 with the 8 scratched off...would you be interested in a bit of old lint instead?
Inherited from a particularly obsessive uncle this tome, one of many was passed into his hands along with a recipe for a particular form of alchemy.
Researching the scrap of manuscript he figured out it was a form of longevity and chose to test it even though he was far from powerful enough by his order's recogning.
Finally he completed what he thought the alchemy was intended to produce and when bottling it he inadvertedly splashed some of the formulae on his inherited tome which to that point he believed to be a simple beginner's spellbook.
However matters went worse when he tried to potion and passed out.
He awoke days later feeling dreadful but found matters were far worse than he thought for he found he was now looking out from the inherited spellbook looking out over his body, forcing himself he found he could return his spirit to his original body and over time realised his poor understanding of the recipe had resulted in turning the spellbook into a sort of Phylactery except whilst it kept him alive it also meant it was now his true body and its condition also mirrored his true physical condition his original body stopped aging for in truth it was only being animated by his spirit he had to keep his tome near or at least someplace safe and more important he found the spells within had to be updated to sustain himself all he hoped for was time to find a cure for his state for it was only a matter of time before either his original body wore out or his new body was damaged and destroyed which meant a far worse fate for him as his mind and spirit was tied to the tome far closer than his true humanoid form had been.
Just as he originally sought to understand the arcane arts he know desperately seeks a cure and finds the search prolongs his life as the accumulated knowledge slows down his mental and spiritual atrophy since the phylactery is far more vulnerable than the completed ritual should have been.
I like it, but I don't know if my DM will go with the possible ramifications of Bartleby having a phylactery. A suggestion for your future posts: use more periods. You write well but it's hard to read so many run-on sentences.
TS
TheNewGuy makes a good point.
Paladins do not use their original longswords when they are in possessions of +5 Holy Avengers. Wizards are the same. Why cast Force Orb, when you have mastered magic to the point where you can manipulate force energy in much more efficient ways?
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The spellbook is a complete snob, and only wants the newest and best upgrades. It's constantly berating the wizard for not having leveled up and gotten a better spell, and having to memorize this 'cheap dinosaur crap, when there's a version that's *much* better, if only you weren't so pathetic.'
The *second* it's got a new and shiny spell, it happily discards the old information, and refuses to even speak of it (and gets huffy if the old spell is mentioned, since it's 'beyond that newbie apprentice junk' and is offended to even be reminded of it).
Older spells are referred to as 'sticks' or 'relics' or 'primitive mumbo-jumbo,' or 'from that time before you knew how to make fire.' The newest spell is gushed over, for about a day, then it starts nagging about why it doesn't have the *next* shiny new spell yet, and what the hell is taking you so long to master these basic concepts and why are you clinging to these ancient feeble parlor tricks when you could be working *real magics* that shake the pillars of heaven and are you slow or deficient in some way, and perhaps you could just abandon the book somewhere so that it might be picked up by someone better able to comprehend the deeper mysteries of the art, more deserving of a book like this, a brain-damaged orc, perhaps?
The spellbook is a complete snob, and only wants the newest and best upgrades. It's constantly berating the wizard for not having leveled up and gotten a better spell, and having to memorize this 'cheap dinosaur crap, when there's a version that's *much* better, if only you weren't so pathetic.'
The *second* it's got a new and shiny spell, it happily discards the old information, and refuses to even speak of it (and gets huffy if the old spell is mentioned, since it's 'beyond that newbie apprentice junk' and is offended to even be reminded of it).
Older spells are referred to as 'sticks' or 'relics' or 'primitive mumbo-jumbo,' or 'from that time before you knew how to make fire.' The newest spell is gushed over, for about a day, then it starts nagging about why it doesn't have the *next* shiny new spell yet, and what the hell is taking you so long to master these basic concepts and why are you clinging to these ancient feeble parlor tricks when you could be working *real magics* that shake the pillars of heaven and are you slow or deficient in some way, and perhaps you could just abandon the book somewhere so that it might be picked up by someone better able to comprehend the deeper mysteries of the art, more deserving of a book like this, a brain-damaged orc, perhaps?
Haha! I think I'll go with this one. Bartleby's spell book's name will be Scylla. (Walmart gift cards if you got that reference.) Maybe I'll even assume that all wizards in the game have spell books with bad attitudes. My DM will probably rule that NPC wizards can freely learn all the spells they want, just to tick me off, but hey it's 4e so it doesn't have to make sense!
TS