I'm going to be a wizard for the first time in Pathfinder. While I know a fair amount about the crunchy inner workings of the wizard, one thing I haven't really encountered is how a wizard learns his spells.
...so I'm curious as to how most GMs run their worlds; are your wizards coddled by the intellectual wealth of arcane institutions or are they left to fend for themselves?
How freely do wizards share their spells? What level of spells is considered 'common knowledge' in your world? (i.e. pretty much just pay for the ink and you can add it to your spell book) Approximately what level does it become closely guarded knowledge?
Beyond the spells from leveling, are additional spells commonly learned through additional research? If so, what kind of effort and investment does that entail? ...or are additional spells more commonly found on the BBEG or other foes? ...or maybe you get them by bribing some ambivalent wizard hiding in his tower?
Any interesting stories on how you earned/learned a spell?
Are you allowed to research and create your own spells? If so, how did that turn out?
How about cantrips? UM was going to have new cantrips but instead were revealed as 'rare cantrips' in a Design Tuesdays blog thing. Anyone successfully obtained a rare cantrip or made their own interesting cantrip?
*RANDOM* While you're here... Have any wizards obtained the Fast Study feat? I'm thinking of learning it when I can, and wondered if anyone here had used it to great effect.
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tl;dr: A wizard gains 2 spells each time he levels up. How else do your wizards gain spells?
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It depend on your GM.
I generally treat copying spells as a spellcasting service, in this [url=http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/mastery/settlements.html#table-7-37:-available-magic-items[table[/url].
So in a hamlet you can find someone willing to sell a level 1 spell, in a metropolis someone willing to sell a level 8 spell.
Then every source book "removed" from the core rules increase the rarity and price of the spell.
So the spell in the APG are almost all available with a small overhead.
Ultimate magic and Ultimate combat are rare, require GM approval and have a large overhead.
Regional books, racial books, Magic of the inner sea and so on: the spells are normally available only in specific zones of the world and from specific organizations.
Normally they aren't given out for simple money.
Same thing for scrolls.
Theoretically, as a scroll with a level 9 spell (without costly components) cost 3.825 gp, I could go to a small city (population 5-10.000) and have a 75% chance of finding each one of 42 spells from the core rulebook in scroll form. An average of 30 srolls with a elvel 9 spell in them.
Decidedly too easy.
Totally up to your GM. If he's nice, you'll occasionally defeat a wizard and be able to get his spellbook.
I've had other GMs who weren't nearly so generous, and really struggled to find even the simplest spells. It's a question of the rarity of magic in his world and his personal generosity. A spell, whether in a captured book or a scroll, has a gp value to a player, so talk it over with him.
...so I'm curious as to how most GMs run their worlds; are your wizards coddled by the intellectual wealth of arcane institutions or are they left to fend for themselves?
It depends entirely on the setting. Some campaigns are based in societies hostile to arcane magic, others involve elaborate universities wherein magic is seen as a respected science, however I tend to balance the usual campaign between the extremes.
How freely do wizards share their spells? What level of spells is considered 'common knowledge' in your world? (i.e. pretty much just pay for the ink and you can add it to your spell book) Approximately what level does it become closely guarded knowledge?
I allow access to every Pathfinder (rpg ling and campaign setting) spell at character creation and then tailor the other spells based on an 'average' of all characters' known spells. 'Forbidden magic' tropes tend to be paths of study (archetypes, specialists, etc.) rather than individual spells. One of the norms in my campaigns is that the ignorant (and mundane) masses decide what's 'forbidden', acceptable casters who stick to societal norms repeat the values to keep their position, and the PCs will take whatever approach the deem fit.
Beyond the spells from leveling, are additional spells commonly learned through additional research? If so, what kind of effort and investment does that entail? ...or are additional spells more commonly found on the BBEG or other foes? ...or maybe you get them by bribing some ambivalent wizard hiding in his tower?
See above statment.
Any interesting stories on how you earned/learned a spell? Are you allowed to research and create your own spells? If so, how did that turn out?
In the past (3e and 3.5), I've played under several DMs that allowed spell research. One of my favorites involved my wizard's death (and the party's), subsequent escape from Kelemvor's realm, advancement as an evil outsider, and finally from said cycle.
My group's characters each had their own outsider-typed woes to contend with and we eventually broke free from our overlords. All of this came about thanks to Mystra denying my spell research twice. The first spell would've allowed me to consume an outsider and gain immortality, type perks, and so on; the second spell would've allowed me to access magic from other worlds and circumvent Mystra's control of my craft.
The latter attempt annihilated our group's base and killed us. Anyways, after our group regained control of our futures (and new outsider bodies), we decided on revenge. Somehow the cycle broke Mystra's grip and I could now research anything. To cut a long, long story short:
-die
-deny deities and flip off Kelemvor
-advance as outsider
-research deicide epic spell
-storm Dweomerheart with Army of Darkness
-???
-profit!!
*RANDOM* While you're here... Have any wizards obtained the Fast Study feat? I'm thinking of learning it when I can, and wondered if anyone here had used it to great effect.
tl;dr: A wizard gains 2 spells each time he levels up. How else do your wizards gain spells?
My house-rules often change this (one being a 15 minute spell prep time by default), so it depends on the setting, players' expectations, and my own whims.
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According to the "Wizurds r teh GOD!" faction, your GM is a anti-player raging a-hole if immediately upon leveling up to a level where they gain access to a new level of spells, every single wizards spell allowed in your campaign setting (and possibly a few that aren't) don't appear instantly in your spell book.
:P