Access to NPC spellbooks


Advice


I'm used to wizard PCs buying scrolls in towns to learn new spells, but one of my players pointed out that the corebook also mentions the option of copying from spellbooks directly (page 219). How do folks determine what spells are available in this way? My first thought is to ask what spells the PCs are looking for and apply the 75% rule as I would for scrolls and other magic items, but this seems a bit too broad somehow. (I feel it's too broad for scrolls already, but that's a separate issue.)

Alternatively, I could figure out which spellcasters are offering services in each town and generate their spellbooks. That'd be kind of fun, and it would be manageable in a campaign based in a single city, but I'm running a long-distance travel AP (Jade Regent), which makes this option less workable.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Am I overthinking this?


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I am in a campaign where I recently brought this up to our new DM. I asked if my Wizard could ask around in the mages guild if there were any people interested in sharing any first circle spells.

He took a minute to roll up a few dedicated NPC's and had a gnome illusionist want to share spells with me for a cost of 10-15 gold per spell. It ended up being a good contact for me and I often visit this guy whenever I learn a new spell etc.

One other occasion was a grizzled old wizard who agreed to let me a copy a few spells if I would do a few tasks for him. This also worked out well as many fun side quests happened as a result.

Best advice I can give is maybe talk to your DM about this idea and that way they can have an idea of what spellcasters are in the area and if they are willing to share spells.


You can also try the pregenerated spellbooks from Ultimate Magic


In general I would decide what kind of wizard (school focus) and say that the wizard has all spells of that school that he can cast in his book.
The pregenerated spellbooks are good if they match up with the type of wizard.

You shouldn't have random high level wizards in towns (very few people should ever be above level 5) so any NPCs above that level should probably get enough stats to know what level they are and what school focus they have.

Generally in APs they will have spellbooks as loot and any towns the PCs go to should have mentions of any important spell casters in the city that should give you a strong idea of what spells are in their spell book.


If the campaign has a guild, all first level spells should be fairly easy to get. Each level up would be thinner and more restrictive in coin and standing with the guild.

The game I play in as a Wizard has 'Guild points' that I can use to gain access to new spells, beyond those I get at levels. Unfortunately, these points are dearly gained and can be used to get magic items, an option loved by the party. Donating a new spell to the library only nets it's level of points while drawing one out follows an arithmatic formula. The three level 5 spells I just got cost me 45 points (15 each) of my 'bank' of 72. That's every point I've gained since level 1! Well, by level, as a Wiz gets his level each level he takes (45). Other points are by mission and favors (jobs) for the guild.

Guild members aren't supposed to trade spells, but some do, again for favors. I lucked out recently and got six rare (not CORE) scrolls and am trading access for spells, but they're no higher than level 4, so no level 5s to trade.


Thanks for the suggestions, folks! I'm going with the rolling-up-local-casters option after all. But does anyone have any thoughts on using the 75% rule for spell access?

@cell0097: I am the GM, but talking to myself isn't a problem. :)

@edduardco: Thanks, I'd forgotten about those spellbooks, they'll come in handy!

@Claxon: Unfortunately there aren't a lot of spellbooks as loot in this AP, but I'm seeding a couple more in here and there. And yes, I'm not going to have heaps of high-level casters hanging around.

@Bwang: My current game is a travelling campaign for much of its length, and the PCs don't have easy access to a guild at this stage. They will get to meet a couple of wizards interested in trading spells, though.


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Spells can also work as payment in lieu of coin. If a patron is a Wizard, he can save some of the gold by letting the Wizard copy spells. I managed this when I first accessed level 3 spells and got several level 2 and 3 spells from or 'quest giver' patron. I ate day old bread and drank water, but I had a fat spellbook.


When I run I use the cost of a scroll as the base for wizards purchasing spells. The option to copy from another casters book is mainly for three things. One is if there are multiple characters in the party with spell books and they want to swap spells. The second is when using spells as rewards or payment for services rendered. The last thing it is used for is when the party defeats the wizard and claims his gear including spell books.

It is also used for creating new spell books. Having a backup library of your spells safely stored is something that any smart wizard is going to want to do. It allows you to combine spell books into fewer volumes.

Scarab Sages

Regarding spell books, there are a few additional considerations:

1st, there is a limit to how many spells a given book can hold. I don't know it off hand, but I know there is one. The books aren't weightless, so there are certainly limits to excessive spell acquisition (which is why wizards need library access, rather than just storing everything in their spellbook).

2nd, if it has value to a wizard, it has value to a thief. As GM, I think having NPCs that attempt to steal the wizard's spell book is an invaluable lesson for any wizard PCs, and an entirely reasonable encounter. There are spells and precautions to protect one's spellbook, so expecting the wizard PC to exert reasonable caution is, well, reasonable. I wouldn't create an amazing thief for this, just one that could succeed with good die rolls. Even if the PCs fail to notice the thief, I would give a few opportunities for the PC wizard to regain their lost spell book at minor inconvenience (like having a friend in the local wizard's guild notice your arcane mark on a spellbook being fenced, and getting the stolen book at no cost other than a stern lecture from a superior in the wizard's guild).

At higher levels, reoccurring NPCs enemies may actually contract talented thieves to steal preparation related items from the PCs (holy symbols, spells books, rations, and so forth). The idea being to impair the PCs prior to an ambush, rather than facing them at full strength. Classic NPC villain stuff.


Mysterious Stranger wrote:
When I run I use the cost of a scroll as the base for wizards purchasing spells. The option to copy from another casters book is mainly for three things. One is if there are multiple characters in the party with spell books and they want to swap spells. The second is when using spells as rewards or payment for services rendered. The last thing it is used for is when the party defeats the wizard and claims his gear including spell books.

Thanks for that. How do you determine what/how many spells are available for purchase?

Murdock Mudeater wrote:

Regarding spell books, there are a few additional considerations:

1st, there is a limit to how many spells a given book can hold. I don't know it off hand, but I know there is one. The books aren't weightless, so there are certainly limits to excessive spell acquisition (which is why wizards need library access, rather than just storing everything in their spellbook).

One page per spell level, and a standard spellbook has 100 pages.

Thanks for the thievery suggestion.


If your players tend to look for buyable spells from spellbooks, you can determine a few npc thematic concepts (The chain wizard, the fire wizard), and look at the big spell lists and select spells. A typical NPC spellcaster will have his "specialty" spells but might not be inclined to share them, and other, more common spells that don't mean as much to him.


The main thing to consider when allowing the players to purchase spells, is do you want the player to have the spell. If this is s a spell that is going to be useful in advancing the story than more than likely they should be able to find the spell. If the spell is going allow them to do something I don’t want than finding the spell is going to be unlikely.

Most NPC casters in my games tend not to be combat specialist so combat spells are harder to find. Spells like Alarm, Mount, and Unseen Servant are a lot more common than Burning Hands, Magic Missile, or Shocking Grasp. Defensive spells are more common than offensive spells. Information gather spells are probably the most common

So while every wizard will probably have a few combat spells the majority of the spells for purchase will be utility spells. If the spell is one that either makes the casters life easier, or ordinary people will want to pay to have cast than its availability is higher.

I can see a noble requesting a wizard cast silent image for entertainment, but I don’t see the same noble requesting magic missile be cast. The noble may request the wizard take kill a monster, but he doesn’t care what spell is used. If the wizard used shocking grasp, or burning hands instead of magic missile the noble could care less.


Good point, yes, utility spells should be easier to come by.

I'm also thinking that spells up to 3rd level should be relatively easy to find, but above that they get progressively harder.


The general charge for gaining access to a spell to copy it is half the cost to scribe the spell in your book:

Quote:
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.

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