Can you write a spell anywhere?

[Crimeo]

As long as you pay the cost to write it down per page, can I write a spell by carving it into a park bench, tattooing myself (mundanely), weaving the figures into a tapestry, casting hundreds of half inch line arcane marks on something, etc., instead of a spell book?

Also, can I voluntarily use a larger surface area than 8x11 or whatever a spellbook says a page is?

[maouse]

The cost to write down per page is "in a spell book." So that should answer the question... Scribing scrolls has a different cost. As would scribbling them on rocks and pet unicorns.

PFS a spell book is a spell book is a spell book (you aren't allowed to alter the appearance of items per PFS dogma). Home games; absolutely. Make yourself a 36"x36" spell book of "massive whacking" that you can use as an improvised melee weapon. Why not. (Mechanically, it would do the same as a standard "spell book" you used the same way)

[Pizza Lord]

I would say you can. Asking to scribe a spell (that you prepare from, not for casting from like a scroll) on your staff isn't quite the same as making a 'spell book' that isn't a spellbook, but this answer is not meant to be PFS compliant, just an answer.

You would still have to pay all the costs and it would have to be reasonable. You might only be able to fit one 'page' worth of a spell on the handle of a mace or 2-3 'pages' worth on a rod, or possibly 6 'pages' max along the length of a quarterstaff. For the quarterstaff that could be one 6th-level spell, or six 1st-level spells, or some combination.

If you were weaving a tapestry, you'd need magic dyes and rare thread equal to the paper, inks, and quills normally used. If you were carving it into a wall, you'd need rare plasters or tools or inlays. I wouldn't allow using arcane marks though, those don't typically carry a cost.

As for tattooing it on yourself, I'd say a 'typical' person's forearms could hold about 1 page of writing each. I mean, you could try and say it's tiny, but it's not always necessarily writing, it's also diagrams or symbols that have a specific meaning to you and help you focus your mind to retain the spell (which is why other spellcasters have to decipher your personal writings even if they know the exact same spell).

Tattooing your upper thighs or belly might also work but even then that's 2-3 pages each, at best. Most other places aren't readily visible (like the back) or at least reasonably comfortable for staring at for the amount of time it typically takes to prepare spells. Like trying to read your tricep for 15 minutes would cause neck or eye-strain that wouldn't be comfortable for such a task requiring relative peace.

Basically, you're only going to get a small fraction of the 'pages' a spellbook would hold, so it would only be for important spells of low level anyway, unless your going for one full-body 5th-level spell. Plus there's the need to be unclothed to prepare from it and the relative ease of suffering scarring if your wounds are almost exclusively healed with magic.

[alexd1976]

I like the idea of tattooing it on someone... if you are evil, have your 'spellbook' following you with a collar, chain and gimp mask...

Heh...

[Digitalelf]

Going back as far as 1st edition AD&D, there have been "non-standard" spell books (mostly written for the Forgotten Realms setting), appearing at first in the pages of Dragon Magazine, and then into various (FR) sourcebooks... Even the 2nd edition DMG listed a few "alternate" materials to make a "non-standard" spell book.

[Dave Justus]

I would probably rule that you can certainly use alternate means of recording spells, but that a standard spellbook is the most efficient, so other methods would have an increased time and cost. This would mostly be for flavor rather than balance reasons though.

[Derek Vande Brake]

In 3.5's Complete Arcane, pg. 139 begins a short section (about a page and a half) on spellbooks, which can include unusual sizes or pages (including metal foil). Ultimate Magic expands further on this.

I can't find it, but I distinctly recall some source - either 3.5 or PF - that gave tattooing spells as an explicit option of wizards, listing off the equivalent pages each part of the body could hold. It was less than a standard spellbook but useful in that you can't lose it. (If someone rips all your skin off, arguably losing your spellbook is the least of your problems!) Of course, reading a spell off of your own back may be problematic. Perhaps the rest of the party would lend you their own skin?