RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32
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Has anyone else encountered this? I can find a way to price spell books (explicitly). I could price out the cost of each spell as a scroll and then total that, but that seems (logically) wrong. Especially since spell books are usually encoded or done in a wizard's shorthand is some way.
You can find the price of a blank spellbook on page 288 of the CRB. 1GP.
Also, how do you "learn" a spell from an unknown spell book? Does it require "translation?"
No such requirement appears in the Learn a Spell activity in the Skills chapter. You just have to have the "magical writing like a spellbook or scroll" in your possession for 1 hour per spell level, expend materials with Price from a table, and make a skill check, same as if you were learning it from a person. Apparently spellbooks are not encrypted.
What do you mean by "unknown"?
As per the CRB, Learn a Spell Requirements: You have a spellcasting class feature, and the spell you want to learn is on your magical tradition’s spell list.
If not, what I assume, it is unknown for you or "encrypted" for you.
The only "encryption" would be the language the book is written in. In my campaign, I assume most wizards record their magical writings in Draconic, but some use other languages (necromancers may be keen on Necril, for example). It seems logical to me that you must know the language the book is written in to get any use out of it.
Regarding price, we currently have no guidance on the cost (and selling price) of a spellbook that is retrieved, captured or otherwise acquired.
OfMars's suggestion is as good as any.
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32
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What do you mean by "unknown"?
A PC kills the wizard and finds that bad guy's spell book. That's an unknown spell book. The PC could have easily found a spell book or stolen it, but until she (or he) knows what is in it, its an "unknown" book.
But if I am understanding the CRB (and what posters have stated), then as long as i know the tradition (arcane, occult, divine, etc.) then i can read and understand the spells within that book.
There's a special use of Arcana skill to prepare from another wizard's book. If you want to prepare without making and passing that check every day you have to spend the money and time to scribe the spell from the other wizard's book to your own. Presumably this is because formula are somewhat personalized.
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32
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There's a special use of Arcana skill to prepare from another wizard's book. If you want to prepare without making and passing that check every day you have to spend the money and time to scribe the spell from the other wizard's book to your own. Presumably this is because formula are somewhat personalized.
So you use Arcana to copy the spell (spending the money) and its in your book. But if the spell is personalized, how do you overcome those personifications?
Maybe it just doesn't matter...
So to calculate the "value" or a spell book, i should calculate the cost to copy every spell, add it all up, and then halve it for the market value?
Heck, the whole book can be personalized.
Your spellbook’s form and name are up to you. It might be a musty, leather-bound tome or an assortment of thin metal disks connected to a brass ring; its name might be esoteric, like The Crimson Libram, or something more academic, like A Field Study in Practical Transmutation.
I'd say your wizardly intuition infallibly guides you in figuring out (a) that something is actually a spellbook (b) how the spells are presented in it (c) how to understand the individual spells.
So to calculate the "value" or a spell book, i should calculate the cost to copy every spell, add it all up, and then halve it for the market value?
Sounds right to me. Toss in the value of the physical "book" if it's something fancier than the standard starting spellbook (worth ~1 gp).
There's a special use of Arcana skill to prepare from another wizard's book. If you want to prepare without making and passing that check every day you have to spend the money and time to scribe the spell from the other wizard's book to your own. Presumably this is because formula are somewhat personalized.So you use Arcana to copy the spell (spending the money) and its in your book. But if the spell is personalized, how do you overcome those personifications?
You pass an Arcana check. If you fail, you can't overcome them and you can't copy it into your own book.
I got into a similar discussion once, and found recipes for cooking a helpful analogy. It's a bit like having to find out that a courgette is a zucchini. If it 'adds pepper' you have to work out how much. It might say 'like Aunt's', which won't help you at all.