Way of the Wicked looted spellbook price leaves me confused

[Nearyn]

The Heart of all Flame, the spellbook that can be acquired in The Knot of Thorns, is listed as being worth 1445gp.

The book contains
4 4th lvl spells
4 3rd lvl spells
7 2nd lvl spells
6 1st lvl spells
5 cantrips

I don't agree with the math that brings this book to a 1445gp value. Can someone please explain?

-Nearyn

[BretI]

My math would be:
4 * .5 * 160 + 4 * .5 * 90 + 7 * .5 * 40 + 6 * .5 * 10 + 5 * .5 * 5 + cost of spell book.

682.5 for just the spells, so the spell book better be worth about 760gp.

Normal spell books would be worth 15 gp.

Is there something special about the spell book? If not, are any of the spells in the book rare or unique? I could see a single unique 4th level spell easily being worth more than 800 gp.

[That Crazy Alchemist]

It's a named spellbook. Named items are often more expensive than they should be simply because they are unique. Imagine showing a spellbook collector the Heart of the All Flame and a regular book with the same spells in it. Guaranteed he'd spend more for the unique copy.

[Nearyn]

That's weird, I think it's crazily underpriced.

BretI could I persuade you to spell out a bit clearer how your calculations work?

Because to me it would be worth ALOT more than 1445gp

-Nearyn

EDIT: Thought I'd explain my own take on the math.

magic, on the price of spellbooks wrote:

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

magic, on the cost of scribing spells into a spellbook wrote:

The cost for writing a new spell into a spellbook depends on the level of the spell, as noted on Table: Spell Level and Writing Costs.

Spell Level Writing Cost
0 5 gp
1 10 gp
2 40 gp
3 90 gp
4 160 gp
5 250 gp
6 360 gp
7 490 gp
8 640 gp
9 810 gp

So the price would be the price of acquiring the spells + the cost of scribing them into the book.

I have 2 different types of calculations here. One assumes that the price of acquiring a spell is the same as buying a scroll with the spell in question, the second is that it is priced as if acquired through spellcasting services.

Scroll version:
4 4th lvl spells (4x700gp) for the scrolls + (4x160gp) for the scribing of spells.
4 3rd lvl spells (4x375gp) for the scrolls + (4x90gp) for the scribing of spells
7 2nd lvl spells (7x150gp) for the scrolls + (7x40gp) for the scribing of spells
6 1st lvl spells (6x25gp) for the scrolls + (6x10gp) for the scribing of spells
5 cantrips (5x12,5gp) for the scrolls + (5x5gp) for the scribing of spells.

Totalling a cost of 6927,5gp, halved for the market to 3463,75gp.

Services version:
4th = 1120 in total + 640 scribing cost
3rd = 600 in total + 360 scribing cost
2nd = 420 in total + 280 scribing cost
1st = 60 in total + 60 scribing cost
cantrip = 25 in total + 25 scribing cost

Totalling a cost of 3590gp, halved for the market to 1795gp

[Jeff Merola]

From the Magic section of the CRB:

Quote:

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

[Akerlof]

Nearyn wrote:

magic, on the price of spellbooks wrote:

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

...

So the price would be the price of acquiring the spells + the cost of scribing them into the book.

I have 2 different types of calculations here. One assumes that the price of acquiring a spell is the same as buying a scroll with the spell in question, the second is that it is priced as if acquired through spellcasting services.

Check the Magic section again, see the last paragraph of Spells Copied from Another's Spellbook or a Scroll:

"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."

Half the cost of "buying and scribing" means half (scribing cost) + (1/2 scribing cost from buying access to a spellbook.)

So, a 4th level spell would cost 160*1.5 = 240gp, a 3rd level spell is 90*1.5 = 135, a 2nd level spell is 40*1.5 = 60, a 1st level spell is 10*1.5 = 15, and a 0 level spell is 0.5*1.5 = 7.5

This gives us the raw scribing cost of:
4*240 = 960
4*135 = 540
7*60 = 420
6*15 = 90
5*7.5 = 37.5

Total = 2047.5
A normal spellbook with those spells would sell for half, or 1023.75gp, (note that this is exactly 50% more than BretI calculated, accounting for the cost of access to a spellbook from which to write the spells.) But the named spellbook sells for more. I'm guessing it has a magic effect aside from just the spells in it?

[BretI]

Sorry, I had missed the section about buying access when checking the rules this morning. Akerlof has the calculations for the spells correct. You would still add the 15 gp for the cost of the book itself before halving the cost.

[Nearyn]

Thanks a bunch :)

Akerlof, your take on it brings it as close to the set price as I can think of. It might be that the book has a power that I don't know of.

-Nearyn