So let's say you have a mischevious rogue in your group who decides to dabble a bit in the arcane arts on the path to become an arcane trickster. Said rogue is 2nd level. At 3rd level, rogue becomes Rogue 2 / Transmuter 1. The rules are fairly clear on class features: Scribe Scroll, cantrips, spells per day, saves, (crappy) BAB, etc. RAW does not seem to address, however, two items of note: the arcane bond and the spellbook.
I'll grant you, said roguemuter would have the option to form an arcane bond to either an item or a familiar, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she instantly has a familiar, or must pay the costs for a new familiar ritual.
Of more pressing issue is this: would a multiclass rogue / wizard's spellbook have all cantrips and 3 + INT modifier 1st level spells at no cost? RAW doesn't seem to specify either way...
Clarification or consensus would be appreciated.
My understanding is that the 70gp and a spell book (and spells within) are accumulated during your time as an apprentice, the way a fighter accumulates an average of 175gp starting wealth.
I think these things are left vague in the game so that DM's can set things the way they want in their campaigns. I would say that you should probably just find or buy a spellbook with all the cantrips and spells you want. If that doesn't work for your situation, you could say that you have been slowly accumulating the spell book over the months and years of study. There is an Order of the Stick strip that addresses this topic very well.
In the olden times, it was burning 100gp worth of crack, and a night spent meditating in an area where appropriate animals live.
My understanding is that the 70gp and a spell book (and spells within) are accumulated during your time as an apprentice, the way a fighter accumulates an average of 175gp starting wealth.
I think these things are left vague in the game so that DM's can set things the way they want in their campaigns. I would say that you should probably just find or buy a spellbook with all the cantrips and spells you want. If that doesn't work for your situation, you could say that you have been slowly accumulating the spell book over the months and years of study. There is an Order of the Stick strip that addresses this topic very well.
In the olden times, it was burning 100gp worth of crack, and a night spent meditating in an area where appropriate animals live.
I think multiclasing into wizard is perhaps the most awkward option available to PCs.
It is hard to explain how a character suddenly gains that level of insight into the workings of magic over night.
If players in my campaign wish to multiclass into anything that cannot be selftought (to some degree) I require them to get specialized training.
In this case if the rogue finds a wizard mentor it can be assumed that:
1 - the master was very fond of the apprentice and gave the rogue a book and the arcane bond item.
2 - the master was really getting tired of the apprentice and before he got the chance to kick the miscreant out the PC steals a book and odd arcane item from the master.
I can understand the game world sense of penalizing a new wizard.
Unfortunately I have trouble saying that someone who is a Wizard then Thief should have a tougher go than someone who is the reverse. I also don't think my players should choose which class to take first based on the cost of a spellbook.
I'm happy to bend the world to play out some of the game sense here. Finding a teacher etc... etc... Still, if it comes to it I will ere on fairness for this.
Sigurd
I expect players to make SOME sort of role playing effort when trying to change classes.
In my ROTR campaign, one of the Rogues wanted to take a level of Fighter to get the proficiencies (he likes Scythes) and Feat. SO, while still a rogue, he spent some of the down time (while the Wizard was scibing spells into a spellbook and the Hedge Witch was brewing potions) practicing with the Scythe.
I never let characters just instantly take a new Class if they make no effort to roleplay the exchange.
Clarification or consensus would be appreciated.
As far as RAW, first level in a class is the same first level described in the class description, regardless of whether the first level is when you start the character or when you take your first wizard level at level 20. Thus, when the text says:
At 1st level, wizards form a powerful bond with an object or a creature.
Weapons acquired at 1st level are not made of any special material.
You gain that benefit -- and any item associated with it -- as part of taking a level in the class. Prestige classes use the same language, and you usually can't take a prestige class at the first character level.
The rules do not specify how the items are obtained. A DM is free to impose any particular ruling about this. Most DMs tend to be liberal and let players have the items/familiars/animal companions with minimal fuss and some story manipulation.
So it's really up to the DM to determine how the items (spellbook, familiar, and spells) were acquired, so long as the players have effectively roleplayed the scenario.
The rogue in our group had been reading arcane books and introductory manuals since day one of the campaign, and finally received formal training at the hands of a hedge witch outside the Friendly Arm Inn. So it would seem that this "formal training" probably involved summoning a familiar and writing spells into a spellbook. Is that a reasonable assumption?
There is an Order of the Stick strip that addresses this topic very well.
Found it: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0126.html
This one time, at Bard Camp...
Yup, that's the one! I love Order of the Stick!
You might want to make the summoning of the familiar something that is roleplayed a little - just to give it a little back story and personality. Might help it from getting forgotten, as tends to happen with familiars.
There would be a problem with an existing character that is going take his first level in Wizard using "found" or purchased spell book. He cannot automatically memorize spells from any spell book other than one he has written himself.
From the PRGRD:
"Wizard Spells and Borrowed Spellbooks
A wizard can use a borrowed spellbook to prepare a spell he already knows and has recorded in his own spellbook, but preparation success is not assured. First, the wizard must decipher the writing in the book (see Arcane Magical Writings, above). Once a spell from another spellcaster's book is deciphered, the reader must make a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell's level) to prepare the spell. If the check succeeds, the wizard can prepare the spell. He must repeat the check to prepare the spell again, no matter how many times he has prepared it before. If the check fails, he cannot try to prepare the spell from the same source again until the next day. However, as explained above, he does not need to repeat a check to decipher the writing."
My understanding is that the 70gp and a spell book (and spells within) are accumulated during your time as an apprentice, the way a fighter accumulates an average of 175gp starting wealth.
I think these things are left vague in the game so that DM's can set things the way they want in their campaigns. I would say that you should probably just find or buy a spellbook with all the cantrips and spells you want. If that doesn't work for your situation, you could say that you have been slowly accumulating the spell book over the months and years of study. There is an Order of the Stick strip that addresses this topic very well.
In the olden times, it was burning 100gp worth of crack, and a night spent meditating in an area where appropriate animals live.
I think multiclasing into wizard is perhaps the most awkward option available to PCs.
It is hard to explain how a character suddenly gains that level of insight into the workings of magic over night.
If players in my campaign wish to multiclass into anything that cannot be selftought (to some degree) I require them to get specialized training.
In this case if the rogue finds a wizard mentor it can be assumed that:
1 - the master was very fond of the apprentice and gave the rogue a book and the arcane bond item.
2 - the master was really getting tired of the apprentice and before he got the chance to kick the miscreant out the PC steals a book and odd arcane item from the master.
They could be studying in their downtime. When I played a factotum(3.5 class) I purchased a spell book, and a holy symbol because I knew I would be going into the Chameleon PrC as an example. I think you can teach yourself magic since the books compare hermits to wizards that went to academies, but that is 3.5 fluff, and YMMV.
Grond carries a strong point, but let's assume I've purchased a blank, 100-page spellbook from the market back when I was still just a rogue. I'm a self-study, but the roleplaying XP from getting official (albeit brief) training from a witch was enough to tip me to 3rd level. If we want to follow the RAW, it should take me 1 hour for each first level spell and 30 minutes for the cantrips. With a 20 Intelligence, that's 8 first level spells, or 8 hours, plus 8 hours for 16 cantrips (Illusion and Necromancy are prohibited schools, so I don't automatically have those cantrips). Assuming I spend 16 hours writing the spells, I should be able to do so for free (italic emphasis added):
Materials and costs: The cost for writing a new spell into a spellbook depends on the level of the spell, as noted on the following table. Note that a wizard does not have to pay these costs in time or gold for spells he gains for free at each new level.
Upon transcribing that, I noticed that I don't even have to take the time to scribe the spells, so I guess it was just part of my training. Awesome.
So was the first familiar I summoned also "part of the training"? I would rather use Fergie's suggestion and make it story-driven, rather than a forgotten footnote.