Author Topic: Spellbooks as Scrolls  (Read 356 times)

Offline Asinjin

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Spellbooks as Scrolls
« on: July 24, 2024, 11:01:09 AM »
In 2nd ed we had a rule where a wizard could read a spell as scroll from his spellboook.  When he did, there was a 50% chance the pages disappeared.  Not the words, but the pages as well.

It came up in session last night for the first time in a while, so bringing it up here.
The hand that rolls the Dice rules the world.

Offline Windblade

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Re: Spellbooks as Scrolls
« Reply #1 on: July 25, 2024, 03:18:26 PM »
I personally think the rule should disappear but if we need to keep it then it should be a 100% disappear rate instead of 50% disappear rate.  Although at 1st and 2nd level it is cheaper to buy a scroll it quickly becomes cheaper to buy pages in a spell book then to have scrolls one above 3rd level (e.g at 9th level a scroll cost about 4000 gp where a spell book only cost 900 gp).  Even if we do keep it at 100% disappear rate then we need to do something about the price discrepancy.

Offline Asinjin

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Re: Spellbooks as Scrolls
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2024, 10:00:35 PM »
Anyone else have thoughts on this rule?
The hand that rolls the Dice rules the world.

Offline Malchia

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Re: Spellbooks as Scrolls
« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2024, 07:09:53 AM »
I always thought of scrolls as more of a "Magic for Dummies" book series written in simple terms and easy for anyone to read and use in a pinch. On the other hand, I always pictured spellbooks as more complicated arcane shorthand that only Wizards could interpret. Even sorcerers can't learn spells from spellbooks.

I don't like the idea of a Wizard risking losing their spells over a one-time use scenario. It's like having a miniature version of Disjunction happen to your spellbook. If things go south, boom, your spell is vanished from existence. Since you lose the pages, you can't simply rewrite the spell back into your book because now there's no more room unless you haven't used all 100 pages yet.     

Offline Hero

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Re: Spellbooks as Scrolls
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2024, 10:35:27 PM »
I kind of like the idea of a desperate mage burning pages from their spellbook. To keep it sporting, what about introducing a spellcraft check with a high DC to retain the spell?