Spellbooks mechanics in D&D 5E

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Spellbooks in d&d dungeons and dragons, how do they work?
How do you learn new spells between levels?
How much does it cost?
Can you cast spells out of your book directly (no usually)

[@phatman274]

Played a divination wizard with the charlatan background and my "spellbook" was the deck of tarot cards with the spells hidden in the pictures. Got arrested a couple of times trying to steal spell scrolls, but they always let me keep a deck of cards to "entertain" myself. My catchphrase was "Pick a card and reveal your fate" Surprisingly, it kept coming up fireball

[@HonestMagpie]

I love your character already.

[@lukelofquist3734]

"Pick a card, and reveal your fate" he said as he unpacked and fanned out a deck of small, leather-backed tarot cards. Unsure, you meagerly grasped for one, and he pulled them back, hastily. His eyes began to light up, literally. Brimming with fire as he flips over the card to face you. "Interesting... the sun..."

[@magmat0585]

Your guy sounds like an absolute blast (pun intended)

[@eunumsei2258]

It reads like the wizard Twisted Fate, from "League Of Legends".

[@MagiofAsura]

Crazy how they let your character hold onto bat scat too.

[@drickikcha]

I once made a wizard who was self taught, his spell book was a picture book and he couldn't read. One of my favorite characters.

[@crabs4sale825]

How did that work with INT being the class’s modifier?

[@bealns7356]

@@crabs4sale825 intellect doesn't mean sum of knowledge, I've always seen it as capacity to learn. If a wizard figured out how to cast based on images they draw then more power to them. I think maybe a workaround could be another player reading a spell for them that they then draw in their picture spell book. Anyway that's an amateur DMs humble opinion

[@philipmrkeberg7985]

DnD has Intelligence and Wisdom backwards. If we look at the Oxford Languages definition of Intelligence, Intellect and Wisdom, they are as follows. Intelligence: "The ability to acquire knowledge and skills" Intellect: "the faculty of reasoning and understanding objectively, especially with regard to abstract matters." Wisdom: "the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgement; the quality of being wise." From these descriptions, it's clear that Intelligence should be your ability to learn, while wisdom is having prior knowledge. For some reason the only Intelligence Check that is tied to gaining new information is Investigation, whereas all the others rely on prior knowledge. Wisdom is more of a mixed bag, with Animal Handling, Medicine and arguably Survival fitting the bill: But leaving Perception and Insight as skills that should really be applied to Intelligence. Oddly enough, Wizards, the spellcaster that's all about knowing how a spell works, uses Intelligence instead of Wisdom. One could argue that is just wrong on a fundamental level, but it does work for their ability to learn spells from reading other spellbooks and spellscrolls. Now, regarding the self-taught, illiterate Wizard, he displays an immense intelligence in personally learning these spells through what one can assume to be strategic trial and error. That he's able to create pictograms that describe the casting of the spell is akin to creating an entire language for himself on top of autonomously learning the magic. From my perspective, this requires a lot more intelligence than just repeating what someone else taught you, be that a written language or the casting of spells. As long as the lines are muddled and Wizards are tied to intelligence, this character is not only plausible, but has one of the best arguments I've seen for starting with a very high Int stat.

[@josiahp.6960]

@@crabs4sale825 INT now stands for "Intuition."

[@ignispurgatorius5297]

@@philipmrkeberg7985 This has always irked me. It always felt to me they just wanted to have 3 vaguely mental stats to correlate to the 3 physical stats, but the whole INT/WIS divide is all kinds of wrong. It also lead to int being the dump stat for most people who aren't wizards or artificers, because not many terribly usefull things are tied to it combat wise. But then DEX is also kinda wierd, as it includes essentially agility.. It's hardly surprising that many video games set out to change these stats.

[@ccshade7294]

having at least 2 wizards in the party means they can constantly swap notes and spells whenever they got downtime

[@richardproper8682]

Lol, that's our current campaign, made a rit caster bard because no one wanted to make a wizard (plus, you know, free familiar) and our module gave us an NPC wizard as a permanent party member. Now we're besties who are always on the hunt for wizard rit spells to share.

[@Maninawig]

Two issues from Xanathar's Guide and logic: 1. Given spells are personal and thematic to assist the wizard, two wizards living in the same area probably find the same spell useful, so the variety is stunted. 2. XGE does state the act of copying a spell requires one to maintain concentration on that task alone. Each minor distraction will cause a spell scroll or spell book entry to fail. That is why wizards tend to copy them in isolation or designated studies In your example, the wizards would have to concentrate on each spell separately and one simple sneeze would cause it to automatically fail, wasting your gold. (Cause as Zee said, gold pays for the expensive ink, which was still used)

[@lonelyscribe3939]

I'm going to be running a mage school game in the future and this is basically what my players were planning to do. They were all going to be Wizards of different schools and select different spells from each other, then lend each other their spellbooks so they can copy each other's spells. I entirely expected them to do this, but what I think they didn't think of is where they'll get the gold to do all of that copying.

[@ENCHANTMEN_]

@@lonelyscribe3939 You could also work that into the game by having them learn new spells from classes/lessons, and them copying spells is just them sharing notes like IRL. Maybe even allow players to split the cost and time of learning a new spell if they work together, too.

[@lonelyscribe3939]

@@ENCHANTMEN_ that was kind of the idea. They'd start the game as essentially "level 0" Wizards, with no spells in their books yet. Then, after their first class, they'd get all of their cantrips and 1st-level spells. From then on, everytime that they level up and get new spells, that'd essentially be spells which they were taught in class. They will have limited access to "free" components for copying spells to their spellbooks (those components are essentially part of their tuition), but probably only enough to copy another two spells into their books a level. Any additional components they'd need to purchase for themselves or they'd need to acquire in some other way.

[@KaiTenSatsuma]

I like to refer to the Wizard's greatest power being "College Level Plagiarism"

[@colinsmith1495]

Or just Ye Olde Version of Github.

[@Abdega]

@@colinsmith1495 The Old version of Github was just a hub of old gits. Perfect

[@Drekromancer]

@@Abdega "Git Club"

[@LucanVaris]

It's not plagiarism! See, I wrote it down with a different phrasing! Ergo, it's *totally* my own words! D:

[@KingsBard]

@@LucanVaris don't call me out like that

[@redemption101caleb]

My chronomancer kobold was fully insane after a magical accident fractured his mind. His “spellbook” was an infinitely self contained tesseract. He was badly mutilated and emotionally broken, but deeply kind and when he finally got the wish we had spent five irl years questing for to fix his mind he instead used it to bring the elf Druid’s husband back to life, because, “I don’t remember what I lost. But she does.” Miss that crazy little bastard.

[@Miroku2235]

Trade spells with another Wizard. "Steve, do you know Fireball?" "Yeah, you can copy it if I can copy your Scorching Ray." "Deal."

[@MrJinglejanglejingle]

*laughs in any wizard not knowing fireball as soon as they get the chance to get it*

[@Miroku2235]

@@MrJinglejanglejingle Pobody's nerfect~

[@jamesmontney865]

Just think of the spell trades possible in a Gathering of Magic.

[@bodaciouschad]

@@jamesmontney865 One might trade, per say, consider trading summon spells for another dueling wizard's summon spell, or perhaps offer up their own removal?

[@krisp33bacon]

@@MrJinglejanglejingle hey, some people build their wizards around a theme. and sometimes (very rarely), that theme does not include fire

[@wateroflife8955]

Hi, I’m Jared I’m a sorcerer, and I never f**king learned how to read

[@AmaryInkawult]

Our books are in our blood when our bard parents banged that dragon

[@nairocamilo]

That seems like a modern YT ad for a money scheme

[@TheUnluckyEverydude]

*soft drumbeat in the background*

[@anthonytorres-cruz1598]

Jared, 19

[@LordDragox412]

@@AmaryInkawult So you're saying if I want to become a sorcerer, then I should inject myself with your blood...? >:)

[@Matt-fl6ys]

The way I understand it in terms of academia: spell scroll = journal article, spellbook = the raw, un-edited research notes that served as a basis for the journal article. Where either you have dig though the ramblings or figure it out or work out what was obmitted cause it is "so obvious".

[@GodzillasaurusJr]

Journal articles don't generally disappear or self-destruct when you make use of them. I mean, I don't think they do - it's been a while since I was in academia...

[@Matt-fl6ys]

@@GodzillasaurusJr In that aspect no, they don't 😅. But Journal articles are peer-reviewed and developed, so *technically* they do disappear as they are built upon and updated as research moves on, but, it was more of a "quick-and-dirty" construct to explain why it takes longer to read from a mage's book Vs. a spell scroll.

[@Jonaegh]

I love the idea of a wizard's spellbook being tattooed onto their body I imagine a master level wizard just being absolutely *covered* in tats, and while invoking them the specific runes describing the spell glow

[@beruman]

would be fun with a recurring villain. "Oh shit the knee is glowing! fucking *dodge*!"

[@totallylegitimate9757]

Fighter: "Ah! We've been captured by a clan of Yuan-Ti!!!" Yuan-Ti Leader: "Remove the magic one's spellbook!" Wizard: "HA I've had it tattooed to my very skin!" Yuan-Ti Leader: "You misunderstand..... Remove.... His.... Spellbook."

[@bishoppope2921]

I came up with rules for this with my DM, because it powerful to never be able to lose your your spellbook we came up with a system where you would roll on a table when damaged to see if you temporarily lose a spell slot because of the tattoo being broken

[@nevermore7285]

I imagine acid, or fire, would be a bit of an issue. Hell, any dragon’s breath weapon would be a problem.

[@joemama114]

I really like how open ended they are about this in 5e. Spells can technically be documented using ANY medium. In a specific example I'm GM in a game that's been going on for a while now. The wizard seemed a bit miffed that there were not much in the way of spell scrolls. Lots of other consumables like potions or enchanted ammo were found but no spell scrolls. He thought it was a bit unfair, until he found out what I had been doing. The major dungeon they had been exploring had a repeat theme of large and grand murals depicting magic users. Wizards in this ancient empire were revered as gods and one in particular thought this was wrong. He secretly hid his knowledge in the murals. With a simple glance, people could see that there was writing on it but a lot of it was not a language they understood, it was an arcane script. With a successful investigation or arcana check, a person could trace along a number of different symbols. This would activate a simple illumination spell which would reveal some spells were carved into the opposite side of the stones that were used to decorate the wall. Once they realized that they back tracked and checked every other mural. Some of them even had hidden compartments with arcane material focuses and one had a spell book. It was a dumb simple thing but spells written on a wall, I thought was cool idea and a great way to hide something right in front of them. The guy who put this all together wanted people to figure it out, he wanted them to know wizards were not gods but he couldn't say that without being labeled as a heretic demon.

[@sideways5153]

That’s a great little feature for an area

[@kevinbarber2795]

Dovakin, the spells are on the walls! XD

[@ccggenius]

I'm now picturing someone documenting a powerful spell as a Poo-casso original. Just walking into the tavern bathroom and seeing fireball scrawled on the wall in excrement.

[@invertedghostgames9899]

"And if your spells are lost in say, *a fire...*" I love that Subtle Spell stab at JoCat xD. Especially after his animated spell card "Just Fireball" in the recently ended Deck of Many Kickstarter.

[@APoleYouKnow]

I want the David Lynch wizard to be a recurring character.

[@Griffith-qw8zc]

The Lynch-Scene got me as well

[@michaelholt4557]

@@Griffith-qw8zc I did not expect it and did not know how much I needed it.

[@Total_DuDe]

Made a 1000 year old skeleton wizard that roams the world with a thirst for knowledge, adventure and his past memories. While he also uses an ancient arcane cane bulb as his arcane focus, and if he needs to read up on a spell, he can just shake it like a magic 8-ball and it will show his notes.

[@Chocomint_Queen]

You only briefly touched on this, but it really deserves a bigger spotlight: Wizards can cast rituals *from their book*! That's bonkers! Everyone else has to have the ritual prepared, or else take the ritual caster feat! One super useful place to keep your backup spellbook is the chest created by Leomund's Secret Chest, since nobody can get to it there. Also, there's a lovely item in the Eberron book, called a "spellshard"; it's functionally a 320-page book (or spellbook!), in the form of a gem. To read or write in it, you just think really hard about reading or writing.

[@kennyholmes5196]

Full-casters get the Ritual Caster feat automatically, IIRC. This means that Clerics, Bards, Warlocks, and Sorcerers (Among others that I may or may not have missed) can do the same thing.

[@Chocomint_Queen]

@@kennyholmes5196 Not quite! TL;DR: Wizards cast rituals from spellbooks, Bards/Clerics/Druids cast rituals from prepared spells, Sorcerers/Warlocks don't cast rituals (except for Tomelocks, who cast rituals from their tome.) Wizards, Clerics, Bards, and Druids gain the Ritual _Casting_ ability, which is distinct from the Ritual _Caster_ feat, and its exact mechanic depends on your class; they're described under the Spellcasting section. By the way, Sorcerers and Warlocks don't get it at all. Bards, Clerics, and Druids can only cast ritual spells they have prepared (Technically for Bards, it's actually from spells known, but for Bards, known and prepared are the same thing). Clerics and Druids may _know_ their class's entire spell list, but they can't cast rituals of spells they don't _currently_ have prepared. They have no ritual book, and cannot copy down new rituals. Wizards, by comparison, can only cast Wizard rituals spells written in their spellbook. They still can't put non-Wizard spells in their spellbook, and they can't ritualcast from memory like the Bard/Cleric/Druid can. (This rarely matters unless you, say, lose your spellbook.) Now, I said Warlocks don't get rituals, but that's only half-true. They don't have it built in, _but,_ a Tome Pact warlock has access to the invocation "Book of Ancient Secrets", which makes them the best ritual caster in the game. Like the Wizard, or those who take the feat, they ritual cast from a book, and gain new rituals by copying them into it. But unlike Wizards and featlings, Tomelocks can write ritual spells from _every_ class into their Tome. They don't have to pick just one class. They get them all. Lastly, an honourable mention goes to the Totem Barbarian, who has their own personal version of ritual casting where they can cast only two specific spells, which is just super funny. They don't get a book, they can never learn new rituals, technically they don't even _know_ the spells. Very Barbarian.

[@DoctorPatrola]

Eberron = Powergaming

[@p3ter9000]

Oh hey, that's from God Emperor of Dune

[@FriendoftheDork]

It's much cheaper to make backup spellbooks than to create a secret chest - which you know, someone can steal or destroy your focus for.

[@dolphinboi-playmonsterranc9668]

Now that you say that whole selling books thing, mage's colleges make sense to me. Like "Oh yeah, wizards have to interpret eachother's nonsense, just like I have to in my coding class."

[@notyou2353]

Also, some standardization of the field across all schools would be encouraged, and taught, at most of those schools.

[@colby1398]

@@notyou2353 I just thought of a giant "corporation" (an archmage with a ton of simulacrums) pumping out standardized spellbooks every day and wizards don't even bother making their own anymore. They just buy them from the store and interpret them

[@notyou2353]

@@colby1398 omg.... Business plan for next RPG campaign confirmed.

[@koatam]

@@colby1398 in Shadow Run you can just look them up on the internet.

[@bthsr7113]

@@koatam Which kind of changed up the magic scene from the olden days if I understand correctly.

[@JustaGuy_Gaming]

Reminds me the good old days of 2e spellbooks. You had to cast read magic to read another wizards spell book. If for some reason you lost your spell book and didn't have read magic memorized.... you were basically no longer a wizard. You'd have to spend weeks and thousands of gold to research Read magic and basically invent it again to read magic again.

[@richmcgee434]

You could just buy a scroll of Read Magic instead of researching it. There was a reason that the old modules tended to hand out a lot of scrolls with that spell tacked on at random, and most players I knew made damn sure they owned at least one (either bought, found, or homemade) and had somebody else in the part carrying it/them so everything didn't go up in a single bad fireball or whatever.

[@darienb1127]

@@richmcgee434 wow, that sounds like ... a nightmare.

[@richmcgee434]

@@darienb1127 Welcome to old school D&D. I'm a fan of the OSR movement for its creativity and independence from corporate culture, not because the rules they're so nostalgic for were actually all that good. The best of that stuff doesn't even try to hack OD&D into something good, they're either system agnostic or runnning on their own engines. Can't even make the claim that TSR's rules were all all we had to use back then. Chaosium's Basic Roleplaying System (the engine for Runequest and Call of Cthulhu among many others) was available by the 80s, and has always been mechanically superior to any edition of D&D.

[@wadespencer3623]

@@richmcgee434 But how do you cast Read Magic if you can't read the magic on the scroll?

[@Carewolf]

@@wadespencer3623 You can always read scrolls.

[@a1oilsauce]

gm: you find a spell scroll, it'll take you some materials to transfer it to your book wizard: i use staples gm: you what wizard: i staple the scroll to my book gm: you cant do that wizard: why not gm: staples don't exist wizard: ok... does anyone have glue... or nails gm: this is why we don't invite you, ever since your peasant railgun

[@jlokison]

As a gm I'd let you do that, but there would be a risk of damaging the scroll causing it to self destruct. As soon as you cast or prepared it, the scroll would also self destruct and might take spells on neighboring pages with it.

[@calltothekindred1147]

@@jlokison Just gonna steal this btw.

[@charliescheirmann2926]

Spell scrolls are typically written in different languages and notation and typically require translating as a wizard between languages and notations so that way it is written in a way for your wizard to easily understand and read it. You could just staple it or something into your book, however each time you want to cast it you would most likely need to re-translate it making it not-so-viable in combat or urgent situations.

[@IHateNumbersOnNames]

We ALL forgetting that casting a Scroll consumes it after the spell completes?

[@QuantumFluxable]

@@charliescheirmann2926 you can't cast from your spellbook anyways

[@firerulezz116]

Me and my pal use a house rule we call "Impromptu Spell Scrolls." "A wizard may tear a page from their spell book and cast the spell written on that page as an impromptu spell scroll, although the caster must provide the material component of the spell if any are required (spellcasting focuses work as always). Doing so consumes the page just as a scroll would be, causing the wizard to lose that spell from their spell book. Only a wizard who is familiar with this writing of the spell (likely the wizard who wrote the spellbook, or another wizard who has studied this writing of the spell) may use it as an impromptu spell scroll, as the way it is written is incomprehensible to most and not made to function on it’s own." I just think it's a neat idea, being able to tear apart pieces of your life's work in an emergency in order to save you or your party members. It's explicitly worded where the wizard cannot use this ability to make cheap spell scrolls for everybody else to use. While there is the concern of a wizard using this rule to make cheap spell scrolls for themselves (or other wizards), they'd basically be replacing the spell slot with 10gp and 1 hour, each times the spell level. Sure, that's a better deal than Xanathar's Guide offers on scroll making (by the way, I think a scroll episode would be sweet, love your stuff Mr. Bashew), but you still need to provide any material components and only you can use it (and you need to buy the initial spare spellbook, which is 50gp). Frankly, if they so desperately want to trade their money and time for cheap knockoff spell scrolls, well... Why not, I suppose.

[@angrymushroom26]

My favorite spell book was my Illusionist's spell book that was written into the many patterns of light shone through facets of a sapphire.

[@JaelinBezel]

That sounds overly complicated.

[@jamieadams2589]

@@JaelinBezel they're a caster, if they aren't overly ocmplicated why are we even playing magic men with silly hats?

[@JaelinBezel]

@@jamieadams2589 the silly hats.

[@spectralanomaly1683]

I mean they're quite fashionable

[@MasterrangerABR]

I have an Elvin wizard who's family has a thing for cooking, so his spell-book is spells hidden in recipes, All written in draconic and elvish of course

[@theguzzler2714]

I was just thinking of doing something similar. A necromancer lizardfolk who assesses people based on how best to use them: tools, servants, or food. His spellbook is a recipe book with the spells in little sidebars.

[@lucasm.3864]

Got any Philosopher’s Stones in there?

[@singletona082]

Bonus points if the recipes end up being delicious

[@kingcole5977]

@MasterrangerABR, plot twist: all the spells are only for cooking

[@AGrayPhantom]

I made an Alton Brown inspired wizard who has his own cookbook, too! 😄

[@EpherosAldor]

There was a book in the Forgotten Realms' Harper Series that really opened my eyes to the creativity of what spellbooks could be. It was called The Parched Sea and introduced a desert Bedouin-type mage who stitched her spells in fine gold thread into a sash she wore. I had never considered such an idea that a spellbook could be anything else but a book. After that, all kinds of cool ideas came to mind, like Incan Quipo, the aforementioned tattoos, stylized drawings or sculptures, etc. Even though it's only a theme, not actual mechanics, it really does give the mage an interesting sense of identity when describing how one collects, studies, or prepares spells.

[@veggiedragon1000]

Epheros Aldor Stuff like this is really interesting. I have a bard/necromancy wizard who was a bard first and a wizard second. As such, she understands magic only as a kind of music so powerful that it warps reality and so beautiful even the dead must dance to it. She transcribes spells she finds into a book of handwritten sheetmusic, along with all the other songs she knows.

[@EpherosAldor]

@@veggiedragon1000 Oooh, that sounds awesome too! I forgot about sheet music, that's a great idea!

[@veggiedragon1000]

Epheros Aldor : D

[@JeweledRoseStudios]

You guys are awesome for these ideas, I’ll treasure them. For me, I had an Eldritch Knight descended from secret wizards, her tome was technically the unreadable book item from the big table of random belongings. On every level she was compelled to read it, eyes glazed over for hours, never realizing what happened until she was told later, and suddenly she could make floating images or fire or a hole in spacetime. The book also caused her to zone out and purchase a boat ticket to a new continent and make her way to the woods outside a small settlement before releasing her, as her village was about to get megacursed. It wasn’t anything especially creative, but it was a lot of random elements suddenly weaving themselves into a narrative piece, so thought maybe it would be fun to share

[@senneuh1]

I once played a warforged wizard who engraved spells in binary on a massive gem on his chest, like a hard drive. He quickly got nicknamed as "the install wizard".

[@stephenfurlong4230]

Two variant spell books in my game: Dwarf wizard jeweler who has the spells microcarved into his false teeth that he reads using the loupe built in to his glass eye. Gnome illusionist entertainer who has his spells on various playing card decks.

[@johnathanp-mw8mv]

I did something very similar with my illusionist who wrote all his spells on flashcards

[@Charmlethehedgehog]

Second one sounds like Twisted Fate from LoL tbh (great idea tho)

[@AP-gk6se]

My Asimar evoker, super nerd, spellbook was the equivalent of magik the gathering cards. I picked a spell cast it and threw the card which manifested the magic. then the card returned to my deck.

[@bom.6658]

Im an half orc diviner who carves the basics of the spell into large animal bones

[@christophercrafte]

I was once a gambling divination wizard and my spells were on dice. part if it was a joke because he literally rolls dice to hit opponents.

[@pormpfspimperton6804]

“Be careful because of you lose your spell book it’s gone” **laughs in order of scribes**

[@ebbingkiilian1933]

Makes me wonder, what if ye copy your awakaned spellbook the normal way, and awaken it as well, afterwards? Do ye have two awakened Spellbooks then? Or what if ye transfer your spellbook after you lost it on something that isn't a book? Like maybe an Dagger or something? And since we already opened this can of worms, what if ye transfer it on something alive? Maybe your Familiar (and if ye do that, will that awaken the familiar?)? Or Heck, why not even yourself, since everybody seems to love the Tattoo idea? Or maybe, if it doesn't work on living creatures, what if ye use it on a corpse (can even be some none human creature!), on that ye use animate Dead afterwards? That way it wouldn't be alive in the moment when transfering the Spellbook, even if "undead" still would have counted as "kinda alive"! And could it gain control over it? The Spellbook is sentinent after all, so it might could use this Zombie as an body of it's own? Would there even be the need to cast animate dead further to keep that Zombie under Control? It would be the body of the spellbook at that point, after all! And there are Probably tons of other interesting stuff ye might could do that way! Like, maybeye wanna playan Dryad (Dryad, the creature, not Druid, the class) Wizzardress, without multiclassing? Since she would been boundto her tree she can't leave the area, but what if her tree would be her spellbook? Now, if we assume for a moment that this way of awakening something would work onliving things the same way as the awakening spell (which is something an Wizzard has no access to, after all) usually would, this means her tree would be able to walk! Or maybe the DM says no to thatas well, they might allow it to become an sentinent, living Wizzard stuff, with only very limiged movement or anything. At that point the DM might allow it, an Dryad is no player Race after all. Heck, she could even enter it and hide inside! Or, instead, write the spells on it's inside, so only she would be able to access it! In any case, this feature might gonna allow a ton of real cool and insane stuff and really gives me a ton of Ideas for different builds!

[@theenie5728]

Ah I see A wizard of repute and integrity, like myself.

[@mr.calamity8886]

laughs in Pact of the Tome Warlock multiclass

[@grimreefer9324]

The Keen Mind feat might allow you to rewrite it too tbh

[@JaelinBezel]

@@grimreefer9324 What about Minor Conjuration?

[@randalfthewizard6446]

This whole video is why order of scribes is factually the best wizard subclass Don’t mind me, I’m just gonna copy down another wizard’s entire spellbook in less than two hours, and even if it gets destroyed I can just teleport all my spells regardless of whether I have them prepared or not into a new book, cost-free!

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

Xanathar's has some cool book suggestions, my favourites being: Long straps of leather on which spells are written, wrapped around a staff for ease of transport & Small stones inscribed with spells and kept in a cloth bag

[@JohnSmith-ex8iw]

The stone one can be reflavored a bit into cards. *YUGIOH THEME INTENSIFIES*

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

@@JohnSmith-ex8iw Abjuration: EVERYTHING IS DEFENSE MODE

[@youcantbeatk7006]

@@JohnSmith-ex8iw *"This video is sponsored by the Deck of Many Kickstarter."*

[@girlwithtehface5880]

I have a backup wizard character who uses a pouch filled with animal bones and such as flavor for his spellbook. He's going to be a divination wizard with a witch doctor style.

[@ahoyturtle]

I seem to recall spells take a full page per spell level, so a lot of these ideas, while flavorful, seem like not enough storage space. For example, if you tattoo a 4th level spell on your skin, that's something like 60% of your body. Thematically, I was introduced to it being the spellbook containing all the "behind the scenes" of your spell warping the fabric of reality, which is condensed into the bare-bones "what to do" when you prepare it, or when you make a spell scroll. Deciphering the condensed version into your spellbook is why the scroll is destroyed when you write the spell: You essentially cast the magic piecemeal to see how it functions.

[@ikejohnson5494]

0:42 “The cantrip master would be a super broken build” Me with my sorcerer who took a 3 level dip into warlock for pact of the tome and agonizing eldritch blast: Heh.

[@emilygordbort7300]

Deadass, I have a Tome Warlock/Lore Bard with a level in Divine Soul sorcerer and Magic Initiate. She has like 12 cantrips, not including her At-Will spells. I started running out of good cantrips so now I have just random shit that I picked up for fun. I can confirm it's busted as hell.

[@jackmack4181]

3 ideas have made in my head. A mimic spellbook: for those who want their spells protected A warforge’s mask: for those who want their spells close to hand (think bionicle) A dirty [CENSORED] spellbook: for those want all except the dirtiest of bards to not read the book

[@patrickbuckley7259]

The Mimic spell book makes me think of the monster book from Harry Potter, except sadly it would not be as blatently obvious it was a monster. But I like the idea that my wizard might have to pet his spellbook or do some odd other thing to relax the thing bfore opening it to try and read.

[@oskarpalus2846]

how about a mage who was always studying for exams day before and his spellbook is just a bunch of flashcards with pictures?

[@jackmack4181]

Milan Marković it’s hidden in a nudy mag

[@jackmack4181]

Milan Marković you don’t want to know

[@jackmack4181]

Milan Marković just look it up

[@bradshawtroy420]

The mancer class wizards came back! Is that series ever going to continue with the other schools of magic? I wanted to see all 8.

[@andrewpenn1145]

The mancerclass for Necromancy would definitely be Skenk Mcgenk.

[@patrickbuckley7259]

I so agree, it's so cruel of him to bring them back just for this, but at least we got this, would love if he continued that series, but it doesn;t seem like he will.

[@Scientin]

Mancerclass wizard for Transmutation should be good ol' Tiberius from "The Old Guard" episode. "Transmutation is the key, my boys!! Transmutation is the key!!"

[@kevingriffith6011]

Only if the Evocation master is basically Mister Torgue.

[@ShankMugen]

@@kevingriffith6011 or Jocrap

[@samuraiidol]

I have a Dwarf wizard who's spell book is a relic passed down by generations of other wizards. So many spells and charms and additions have been made to this book that it basically breaks the laws of reality and extra pages will often appear while flipping through it as well as plenty other magical fuckery.

[@empireyouth5791]

Funny enough this kind of reminds me of how the death note is capable of producing more pages if it’s going to run out of space. this makes me wonder does your character getting two spell when they level is explained by them getting an additional page in that book , because that sounds clever and funny

[@johnbrownlee5419]

Think Great Book of the Gummi?

[@Nobody-zl3kk]

I don't want to interject anything about someone else's played character but I do find the idea of wish already being written or carved somewhere in the relic incredibly hilarious. Old dwarven Grogni, ancient of rites of it's time and your characters great great grandfather wrote it down delicately and with great care but then your character's grandpa came around and wrote this really amazing spell he used to hook up with a lady and now it's lost (for now) XD Idk the visual is very funny to me even if I don't know the entire backstory

[@delphynenull2136]

Fun spellbook idea: A trained parrot (or if you want a more villainous twist, a collared-and-chained kenku slave) kept as a familiar that can vomit up a word-soup of encoded spell formulae on command.

[@director1336]

One of my old spell books was a tomb that had a seaweed design and constantly dripped water that disappeared once it hit the ground. It also gave me the added bonus of changing how my find familiar spell works. Instead of a fey, fiend or celestial, it was a small elemental of the water verity, giving it heightened swimming speed, resistance to non magic bludgeoning damage and the ability to change which animal it could have the form of. Later in the campaign, he had managed to gain an apprentice who had a spell book that was basically the same but with fire, and after a bit more homebrewing, managed to bind the spirit of the small fire elemental into the corpse of a death tyrant and with one last homebrew item, one that I came up with under need, my apprentice has a small flaming skull with her at all times

[@leurunner4764]

And the first spellbook would be immune to water and resistant to fire too, though not necessarily fireproof. The second meanwhile would be immune to fire and possibly water as well.

[@soraos21]

Transcript: Welcome to this episode of The Animated Spellbook, brought to you by a paid sponsorship for the Deck of Many's *Big Bad Booklet.* We have covered spellbooks in previous episodes, but I *_B I F F E D I T_* so... Spellbooks are one of the most important features of a Wizard in D&D. Where other arcane casters can only learn spells by leveling, Wizards - on the other hand, in addition to learning two spells per level - can also learn spells between levels by copying them down into their spellbook. In order to copy down a spell, it needs to meet the following criteria: -You must have spell slots of its level or higher -It must be a Wizard spell; it can't be a cantrip, which kinda sucks but... It makes mechanical sense, if not common sense because The Cantrip Master would be a super broken build. -And finally, you have to find it written down somewhere in the game world. Whether that's in a spellbook, or a dusty tome, or... a spell scroll. Anyway, to copy a spell from another Wizard's spellbook or scroll takes some time because Wizards are either: _Eccentric..._ "Oh, it's just mere Draconic. You see, it says, 'Eat of my lab- *_Oh.' "_* _Paranoid..._ "It seems somehow encoded in a... Dirty poem..." _Or disorganized._ "You don't create spells, you catch them. The desire to learn a spell is much like casting your hook in the murky waters. They're out there in the aether, millions of them, and you don't know them until they enter your consciousness. I'm not much of a writer, but sometimes I write those spells down on pieces of paper so that when I read them back, the spell comes back to me in full. It's important to write down your spells so that you don't forget them." So with that in mind, it becomes really obvious why it takes at least two hours per spell level to convert another Wizard's nonsense into, well, your nonsense. Beyond that, it takes practice, expensive inks, and components, which amount to 50 gold per spell level. Probably worth mentioning that most arcane traditions will give you a discount on spells of their school. Once you've spent the time and money, guess what? It's in your book! But what does your spellbook look like? "Though not explicitly stated in the Player's Handbook, most DMs will usually allow interesting thematic spellbooks. Whether that's one tattooed on your body, a text bound in the flesh of a family pet, whatever the _hell_ this is, or the classic *tome."* After a long rest, you can prepare a number of spells from your spellbook equal to your level plus your Intelligence modifier. With the exception casting rituals as rituals, you can't cast spells directly out of your spellbook, they need to be prepared first. You can only cast spells from your book that you have prepared. And if your spellbook is lost in, say, _A F I R E_ all of your unprepared spells... _Are gone._ When that happens, you can copy down the prepared spells you have into a new book at the cost of one hour and 10 gold per spell level... And uh... guess what? You don't get the other ones back, you've just gotta re-expand your collection like you did in the first place. If your DM is a bastard, uh, keep a backup. You can copy spells from your book to another backup spellbook for a cost of 10 gold and one hour per spell level. You could possibly sell those books to make the gold needed to learn spells from other Wizard's books, and then... Make more books with those spells. _You could be a billionaire._ Oh hey, parting note: Copying spells from a spell scroll, one that you could use to cast the spell without using a slot or whatever, *does* destroy the scroll AND requires an Arcana Check of 10 plus the spell's level which isn't mentioned in the Player's Handbook for some fuckin' reason. Thanks for watching this episode sponsored by the Big Bad Booklet, a monthly 5e boss monster zine by the Deck of Many. This month: Tendon and Bone. "A twisted Drow and their blind basilisk companion stalk prey in the crystal caverns deep below the earth. Will you be the hunter... Or the hunted?" Subscribe today at bigbadbooklet dot com!

[@yarro7428]

Effort entirely appreciated!

[@cameronhalliday8553]

Hi, I'm Jerry the Cleric, and I already know all possible spells.

[@goolabbolshevish1t651]

Depending on your domain you may also know allot of the spells people would want the wizard for.

[@BardicProductions]

Never be so sure, more are always added. It is near infinite, so knowing all possible spells is near impossible. So what you say is false, possible... but false.

[@videogollumer]

As do I, Alvin the Paladin!

[@JoshSweetvale]

No, your god does.

[@richmcgee434]

@@JoshSweetvale And a good GM will remember that and sometimes give them the spells that deity wants them to have, not what they asked for. And when they violate that deity's ethos, they get nothing but nightmares and visions calling them out. Only time I've had a spellbook bite me in the ass like that it turned out to actually be a mimic in disguise. :)

[@MagicalMaster]

Actually something I have as a setting note for a Caveman setting of D&D has instead of tomes, Carved Staffs that can have one or many spells upon them. Long Pictographs on a hide, Carved Stones so intricate they tell a story by themselves, elaborate Bead Work or Knot Work and my personal favourite for a witch that never left her home, Cave Paintings. An entire cliff face was that woman's spellbook. That's also putting aside fun things like ritual scarification that works like a tattoo but is made through mutilation for those who want to get their edgelord on.

[@richmcgee434]

Scars and tats both seem like a good idea right up until you get captured and one of your opponents with some arcane lore looks at your "spellbook" and proceeds to skin you alive for it. Mean GMs will also have serious injuries damage your "book" and force you to pay to get it repaired with new ink, fresh sets of scars, etc. after you've healed up. Being chewed on by a landshark is not going to leave your body art intact.

[@MagicalMaster]

@@richmcgee434 Welcome to hardcore roleplay, I see none of this as a legit detriment. Imagine being able to skin an enemy for a spell as well. Remember things go multiple ways. Besides, who doesn't love a hardcore heavy metal campaign?

[@richmcgee434]

@@MagicalMaster Who doesn't? Most 5th edition players, IME. OTOH, the OSR community loves that sort of thing. Besides, my point is that enemy wizards usually won't use tats for spellbooks, simply because they expect to get skinned if they do.

[@MagicalMaster]

@@richmcgee434 Well it's more roleplay potential. Besides, if a tattoo is a tribal thing, known only to your ancestors and yourself then who's to say what it looks like? Think the elaborate tattoo you get in Far Cry 3 for inspiration or Maui from Moana. Those things are elaborate enough to easily be at least a couple of spells for the game and a whole tome for the movie.

[@strixmix3541]

"The cantrip master" Easy build. Tiefling sorcerer/wizard. You get 8 cantrips by level 2 and with magic initiate you have at least 10. Edit: sorcerer/warlock might be better, sorcerers start with a lot of cantrips already. And if you pick warlock, you can get eldritch blast, and some invocations to allow you to cast certain spells at will like cantrips and make eldritch blast more powerful. Fiendish vigor, agonizing blast, etc. With pact of the tome you can get additional cantrips, and eventually you will have a googleplex of at-will casting.

[@LordDragox412]

A true cantrip master is a warlock. Because all you need is an eldritch blast >:P

[@richardproper8682]

Tiefling pact of tome celestial warlock is better, combine Shilleligh +green flame blade+radiant soul+flames of phlethgoros for sexy results (bonus points if you take a 2 level paladin dip, not anachronistic with a celestial patron, so you can pump a smite and add +2 dueling damage. If you already have Shilleleigh up, you can also tack on a searing smite or flaming sphere with your bonus action both benefitting from FoP. If you haven't made an example by the end of your first attack, give your opponent a wicked little smile and step back if you have remaining movement. Pile FoP and your tiefling Hellosh Rebuke [also possibly Armor of Agathys if you were able to get that up before the fight] if they hit you with an AoO

[@youcantbeatk7006]

@@LordDragox412 *WARLOCK TRASH!*

[@BenDover-dk2sp]

@@youcantbeatk7006 cleric bastard

[@harrietr.5073]

Oh god no.

[@Firestar4041]

"Isnt explained in the PHB, for, whatever reason" . . . . *begins to stare daggers at Wizards of the Coast

[@michaelholt4557]

So where is this explained?

[@AnadynTheCursed]

@@michaelholt4557 wherever the Spell-Scroll-as-a-magic-item is described -- DMG, probably.

[@BYERE]

I have a wizard who, as an apprentice and while working for the local guard, was killed by a bunch of crooks. The city gathered gnome artificers who created him a new body... a cybernetic body... He became Reborn as... Roberto Coppa! While he no longer has access to the Weave, he uses his mechanical body and its attachments to replicate spells. His spellbook is a combination of a traditional book, mechanics manuals, and hand-written notes, that he keeps stashed in a compartment that opens out of his thigh.

[@overshotcentaur6182]

The tattooed wizard lady looked a lot like Almalexia from the Elder Scrolls.

[@Inuvash255]

came here to see if anyone else noticed that

[@Nighthawk1066_]

Overshotcentaur What do you want, outlander?

[@Cyberdog22]

@@Inuvash255 Me too.

[@ZombieNoodles13]

I was thinking more Yzma in The Emperor’s New Groove

[@worthasandwich]

I have always wanted to play the tattooed wizard, it just seams interesting

[@jesseward4115]

I played in an evil two shot where I was a 15th level Goliath Necromancer who's spells were tattooed all over his body. The DM gave me a level 10 undead fighter for my 14th level ability and let me tell you, high level necromancers are scary powerful lol.

[@youcantbeatk7006]

Prepared to get forcefully stripped down to so others can steal your spells.

[@kuwabaragriffin5429]

In Pathfinder an alchemist can give out magical tattoos...I have been getting tattooed every break we have in our campaign. Let's just say that a swashbuckler who can never be hit with magic tattoos are crazy strong.

[@jlokison]

Don't become a burn victim, that would be bad.

[@Greenomb]

Pro: You probably won't ever lose your "spellbook". Con: You have to do some incredible stretches, whenever you prepare your spells.

[@andrewthemaroon8608]

My wizard's "spellbook" was a cloak he wore almost all the time. When he found a new spell he would write it down on a scroll or scrap of paper and place it in his pocket. Afterwards when he was asleep (during a long rest) his mind would enter a pseudo pocket deminsion that took shape of a giant library with books filled with the spells he knew. He would then spend time studying the spells. Then once he woke up he knew his spells for the day.

[@IndieIncendiary]

I once had a wizard character who was a prisoner in the Nine Hells and his spellbook were iron brands and tattoos on his body. Worked out some loose rules on how high damage/critical hits could effect the spells in my "book" like a mishap roll. It was awesome! Nothing more thrilling and risky than wearing your spells on your body.

[@Nickle_King]

I always thought about copying spells as "This is how this person used energy manipulation to conjure this spell. How would I use my abilities to make the same effect?" It's kinda like swordplay. There are styles and skills you can learn, but, in the end, what really matters is how you make those teachings your own. Do you stick to the strict letter of the teachings, or do you make them fit you? And how would either of those attitudes fit with passing those teachings on? That's how I always viewed spell copying. A little Caster preference and a little personal ability. Like trying to reveres engineer someone's math homework. I, personally, have it that there are extra prices that have to be paid if the spell being copied is outside either the College the Wizard is, I feel is outside the personality of the character. Easy example. If your Wizard specializes in healing and protection, but they want to learn this higher level Necromancy spell for whatever reason, they will have to do something to bring out and understand that kind of magic. Depending on the situation, it might be "Use a freshly dead animal", to "must be familiar with the creature like a pet", all the way up to "Must kill a person with your own hands and use that body."

[@JoshSweetvale]

There's a Psion class that can do that. The Erudite. Use psionics to mimic spells. No reagent cost either. A sane GM sets some other limit. Great idea for a 'gather all knowledge' character.

[@Wolfrover]

Oh, you eventually get to that point. First, though, you have to make sense of someone else's notes. Once you figure out what they previous writer is talking about, then you can begin to figure out how the spell works. Look up old real-life alchemical recipes for an example, but have aspirin ready...

[@Wolfrover]

Oh, you eventually get to that point. First, though, you have to make sense of someone else's notes. Once you figure out what they previous writer is talking about, then you can begin to figure out how the spell works. Look up old real-life alchemical recipes for an example, but have aspirin ready...

[@aaboyz11]

Why do you need a spell book when you can just use mOOnstOnE?

[@DrBunnyMedicinal]

;D

[@spiralhaze2070]

[TERRIFYING WHEEZE]

[@krisp33bacon]

@@spiralhaze2070 best part of the interview

[@videogollumer]

*breaths* yEs

[@BenChilds]

As much as the moonstone cartel would like that, moonstone is used to replace material components.

[@ravencomplex1129]

This makes me want to run a session where the wizards spell book gets stolen and the party has to track down the thief to recover the book. Probably been done before and not very unique idea but would be fun to run. More investigation and conversation, maybe there's a fight at the end once the wizard regains his full power, reward him at the end with a spell scroll or another stolen spell book that has a couple spells he could copy into his book as compensation for being left without his full power for a session.

[@adamblakeslee5301]

It occurs to me that a printing press could Break a setting.

[@crowsenpai5625]

Yes but the creation and upkeep on running a printing press that can also perform the magical aspects of spell scribing and use the necessary inks and materials has got to cost a fortune to set up

[@adamblakeslee5301]

@@crowsenpai5625 Actually, just printing a spellbook would be enough. That just requires ink and knowledge.

[@darenabryant9100]

@@crowsenpai5625 Yes it would cost a lot to create and maintain... but think of the amount of money you could make if you could do this. Wizards from all over the world would come to you to get their spells printed at a slight discount. Remember, it's normally 50 gold per spell level. Even if you only cut the price to 30 gold per spell level, that's a pretty big discount.

[@AlphaOmega1237]

Not really. Remember that part of the video that mentioned that wizards are eccentric and can look like gibberish? DND isn't a one method fits all magic system. Everyone casts differently, and everyone interprets magic differently. Mass producing spellbooks would drive the price of them into the gutter and make them unprofitable. The only notable diffence would be that Wizardry would be more about effort and aptitude rather than wealth.

[@adamblakeslee5301]

@@AlphaOmega1237 True, but it is possible to translate that gibberish into your own notation. Either way, printed spellbooks can be a massive boon to wizards.

[@AdraTheGhost]

2:24 Ma'am, that that is what we in the business call a "hideous collection of conspiracy theories that try to unify the whole ass world"

[@fortello7219]

2:35 "Only Rituals Can be performed Without unprepared" -Zee 2020

[@pinkliongaming8769]

Lol

[@metronicmagician1816]

Ok so the idea of a spell book being tattooed onto a wizards body is something I totally want to do now.

[@cz1822]

I was reading through some unearthed arcana subclasses and came across the Order of Scribes wizard subclass. It gets around many of the issues in this video. You can create a magical quill that writes in whatever color you want, halving the cost to transcribe spells, as you no longer have to provide ink, and you can erase anything you write with the quill as long as the text is within 5 feet of you. You can also use your spell book as your spell casting focus. Your spell book is awakened, having the beginnings of “an arcane sentience.” If you lose your spell book, you can replace it on a short rest by transcribing sigils in a blank book, transferring the books consciousness. This transfers ALL of your spells from the original book, and removes the spells from the original copy, if it still exists. This is all at 2nd level, along with a few other things.

[@Blizzic]

0:09 Ain’t that a mood

[@siscokidder]

What is he even saying? It sounds like "biffed it", but captions say "missed it".

[@fistfullofglass]

Biffed it, although I remember that term as a kid, like if you "busted your ass" or "ate shit". More or less unintentional bodily impact on a stationary object and it hurt (sometimes just your ego got damaged). But yeah it still doesn't make sense how he used it.

[@pearlhoff8888]

@@fistfullofglass It's also generally used in place of something like "messed up" or "fucked up" (at least where I'm from). As in like, "We have covered spellbooks in previous episodes, but I didn't do a very good job."

[@SerLagsalot]

You’ll have to explain that definition of ‘mood’ for me...

[@Leto_0]

@@pearlhoff8888 Yeah that's the actual meaning

[@MalleusSemperVictor]

Imagine turning your body into a spellbook only to be flayed into a *C L A S S I C T O M E*

[@brycevo]

Man, this is a great episode. This is just so great. This helps both DMs and players learn more

[@kiruppert]

If the process of transcribing a spell from a scroll isn’t in the PHB, where is it?

[@2MeterLP]

Probably the DMG

[@shadowshedinja6124]

It's in the DMG page 200 where spell scrolls are

[@JustaGuy_Gaming]

Pretty sure the process is in the PHB, but the draw back and requiring a arcane check isn't mentioned. So basically if your DM is cruel you'll have no idea it could fail and/or consume the scroll.

[@jakestavinsky3480]

@@JustaGuy_Gaming i dont agree with the spell scroll disappearing. It makes little sense considering that spellbooks dont

[@LeviathanLP]

For the reverse process, see Xanathar's Guide to Everything, page 133.

[@cageybee7221]

druids, once again, prove to be an underestimated power in being able to prepare most druid spells without needing a spellbook.

[@crowsenpai5625]

All non wizard casters prepare spells without a spellbook. Spellbooks are unique to the Wizard class.

[@kennyholmes5196]

*_laughs in Cleric._*

[@GumshoeClassic]

I still remember some of my groups more distinct "spellbooks". Specifically three of them: 1. One Character was a former slave, kept prisoner by a crazed Necromancer. She was more or less forced to be a chamberlain, which also granted her access to a lot of reading material (The Necromancer was super crazy and forgetful so he would just leave for a month and leave all his crap laying around unguarded). But since she wasn't able to keep a book etc. she tattooed the spells onto her skin. 2. A hermit-like dude who kept his spells on a collection of small metal slates weaves into his hair. Ruined quite a few attempts at stealth.... 3. Another Char had his spells written out on a long scroll of paper that was folded over and over again to form a paper tower which was then stuffed into a Bag of Holding. I mainly remember this one because we often got in trouble since it sometimes took quite a while for him to pull that thing out.

[@itsraventm]

"yo can i copy your spellbook" "yeah just change it up a bit so that its not obvious you copied"

[@Glaswalker1001]

I once had a player that was a dwarven wizard and carved his spells into an obelisk he carried around. Not very practical, but sturdy.

[@davidedgar5923]

Man I love your videos. The little things like the Wizards handshake after talking about copying spells from scrolls make me chuckle. Love it! Keep up the good work.

[@morgansearle3912]

I always wanted to do a wizard with Keen Mind that kept his entire spellbook in like a mind palace thing. It feels suitably fantastical, and goes with a Sherlocky vibe for a caster, but I'm not sure how the balance is. Destroying the spellbook is hard but not impossible, but in exchange for the added protection, you can't ever share those spells in an exchange either. It's a swings and roundabouts deal but it might be a little too helpful.

[@Barquevious_Jackson]

I like the idea of tattooing all of your spells on your body.

[@ihatecomicspodcast6813]

Pretty sure John constantine did that once

[@MartinDrumer21]

But what if a part of your skin is burned or altered in some other way? The DM still is capable of removing some spells off your "spellbook".

[@LesskoBrandon]

A wizard comes in the night and steals all your spells while you sleep

[@youcantbeatk7006]

Prepared to get forcefully stripped down to so others can steal your spells.

[@barrybend7189]

Imbune the spellbook with every anti destruction spell you can make it invincible.

[@brendansully12]

I love Love LOVE that you animated the eyes reading off the teleprompter

[@DapperestDave]

The thumbnail almost looked R rated

[@youcantbeatk7006]

Get your head out of the gutter.

[@Imagigirl]

In the campaign I'm DM'ing, our bizarrely wholesome free mind flayer wizard's spellbook is covered in neon pink faux fur. He's...one of a kind, that's for sure.

[@Knitboy1997]

My most creative spellbook so far was with Cimetiere Buttoneye... Old granny necromancer, with pincushion as her arcane focus. Her spellbook was a flock of butterflies, that follow her anywhere. Each one of them has a spell carved into its wings and its body pierced with a needle. She also had a familiar. "Zombie cat" sewn together from nine residues of her favourite cats and a bag of holding. So everytime she wanted to "store a copied spell", she enlosed the butterfly (needleless) into a match box. Wrote on the top of the box what spell it was. and then she summoned her familiar, made him eat it and desummoned her, keeping the spell safe inside the familiar. Since familiars usually live in their pocket dimensions (when desummoned), we ruled that familiar gets teleported back to her home instead...

[@alpharius3661]

You know I was looking at the limitations of other casters and I chose to try out a idea for a session where workouts and sorcerers could also copy down new spells, but they needed to learn them from another sorcerer (who was still alive) for the sorcerer ( because it was like learning how to control their inert magic) and the warlock actually needed to up their deal with their patron and do more work to get new spells or exchange them. It actually went very well and I’ve kept that rule in a lot of my home brew sessions to this day and I feel like it balances out the classes a bit more, where if the worlock is not working as hard they lose some power and spells, and if the sorcerer isn’t practicing their control they can lose spells or even lose control and have a surge kinda like wild magic, but it’s almost always bad for the party instead of random

[@Sean-ni4qy]

Zee Bash "Cantrip Master wizards would be super broken" Tasha's CoE "Hold my beer"

[@lukeferrell9800]

Good David Lynch impression❤️

[@James-jy3lh]

"or whatever the hell that is" ah yes my notes journal at the end of every school year

[@snickerdoooodle]

Man that animation of the adventurer enjoying his ramen in the beginning brings some comfy vibes

[@ashleighfranklin6525]

My Druid had a spell book that looked very similar to Ellie’s adventure book from the movie Up, as she trained over the course of her life with her tribe and her partnership with Lorcan, a beast master ranger who was her BFF and first love. She made connections along the journey of her clan’s travels, so she’d document them with pictures or small pieces of plants alongside her Druidic or giant script/runes.

[@CitanulsPumpkin]

My favorite non-book spellbook is the rotary map from the third pirates of the Caribbean movie. Once unrolled every variable turn of the rings in the center main circle of the map lines up the image to form the focusing framework and mental image of a different spell. The number of possible rotational combinations equals the page count in a regular spellbook, and the little images of dragons, moon phases, and cryptic limericks in the corners are the cantrips.

[@johnmurphy842]

I would love more classes to do things like this other than wizards.

[@DevinParker]

That little head shake after "for some fuckin' reason" was just brilliant. Subtle and hilarious.

[@darenabryant9100]

Make a spellbook out of sheets of metal inscribed with the details. Heavy, but fireproof. Sub out the 'expensive inks' for metal inscribing tools and reduce the cost a bit for a one time purchase of the tools. Also be able to bludgeon enemies in a pinch with your heavy metal book with the spikes on the cover.

[@steveaustin2686]

For a maritime mage, make it out of thin wood planks with pyrography tools to record the incantations. Then it can float.

[@theindybro6848]

Lore Bards and Tome Warlocks: Looks away.

[@Chirpysemperboy]

I had an interesting tome idea called the Tome of Requirement. Basically once per day, when the need is most dire (either story demands or you run out of spell slots) you can cast a spell that is half you max spell casting level for no cost and without expending a spell slot. Basically the tome shows you a quick, no cost, way to cast the spell, but at the cost that you don't remember the method it showed you.

[@minaly22]

One thing I never really understood about Spellbooks and DMing, is the gold and time limit for copying spells. I mean, maybe we would need to copy a spell from a scroll, and we need that spell for a future fight, but the players never really have the time (or gold) to copy it down. The DM just keep throwing events after events at you, and also no quests with monetary reward and also not letting you have the time to go shopping to sell some things.

[@AGrumpyPanda]

In earlier and variant editions, the gold cost came in the form of materials used to do your own research as you interpret the other spellcaster's stuff. The time constraint mostly came from the fact that downtime was an integral part of older editions, where you might spend one week out of a month on an adventure and the rest of the time was spent crafting, socialising, chasing down new adventure leads and iunno building a castle or something.

[@sliestwheel]

I love the idea of a spellbook that is tattooed onto your body, maybe it's like an arcane script that forms an illusion that only the wizard can see showing the information regarding the spell

[@sylph8005]

The first time I played a great old one warlock, my tome was a living avatar of my patron. Likewise, a player in one of my campaigns I am running is also great old one tome warlock, and their patron is also a living avatar, if not just the patron in the unknowable flesh. However, this patron works basically as a Lovecraftian parasite. Anyway, in this case, instead of the warlock writing things down, the patron either remembers the spells and casts them for/through the warlock, or turns the warlocks stomach into text.

[@singletona082]

New meaning to Word Salad.

[@brothermutant7370]

"You could be a billionaire". Shoulda said " you could be a BULLION-aire". Eh, Ehh? Cuz, ya know, we use GOLD not cash. Thanks folks, I'm here all week.

[@euljnfarabjorn8041]

I liked it. Never stop.

[@utility63]

I thought that was when the Druid keeps turning into a bull and the party sells him over and over again.

[@brenkrasmer]

Ive always, when i play a wizard, magus, or any other spellcaster what needs a "tome" to record his magic, have always gone out of my way to get a small booklet or notepad of 100 pages and done something with it. Created varied gobnledygook scrawlings to represent the spell. One wizard, flavored as a man who found magic in pigment and paints, would have an example book outlining the "deep beige of uncured clay", "the red of blood spilled, but no longer flowing", or the "color of wind on a humid day" as a mental focus or such nonsense that the DM and players could look over to see how his spells were coded. A wizard gadgeteer had blueprints, alchemical symbols deliniating the molecule of salt, spirit, ash and lead being the backbone of a mage armor spell. One magus (spellblade, arcane fighter, the muscle wizard) who grew up pit fighting, would write on the anatomy of the body and the four humors flowing through it. I always had the spells listed in clear form other places, but having a pocketbook mockup of my tome always entertained my tables.

[@bretterry8356]

In 4E, ritual casters had ritual books that were sort of like spellbooks, but you could have alternative ritual books as long as the cost per page equivalent was the same. My dwarf invoker had metal beads he would engrave and braid into his beard. Each braid was a different ritual, and bead was equivalent to a page in a traditional ritual book. So if a ritual took 5 pages in the book, then he would engrave 5 beads and work them into a braid. As he performed a ritual, he would read the braid by feeling the engravings with his fingers like braille.

[@deluxeloy]

"Whatever the hell this is" snapped me in half with laughter.

[@CyanMentality]

Your animation quality is rad, and getting better with every video. Thank you much for these.

[@johnpellegrinoconnors3843]

I love the delivery on the "You could be a billionaire" line, and also that whole loony wizard bit, that was gold.

[@vasilkalov2622]

I needed the "Spell Slots and Spell Leves" episode a few days ago... And is gone... Will you make it Again?

[@orionsarrow2119]

I recently thought up an idea for a warforged wizard, whose spellbook is a data bank where each spell can be loaded onto a cartridge when preparing it, and can be placed into a *literal* spell slot in the warforged body. More cartridges found or made during adventures can correspond to more spell slots as you level up. And even though the spellbook being internal to the warforged is pretty powerful, it makes sense in terms of flavor if the warforged can be slightly more robotic in nature

[@GodzillasaurusJr]

I forget which edition of D&D it is, but I love the specific rules for how much space in your book spells take, where you quickly realise you will have to either get a bag of holding or a cart for your spellbook(s), or have a master tome which you leave at home and a number of travelling spellbook(s) that you take along on adventures, that just holds the ones you think you'll need.

[@inkdd1463]

“You could be a *billionaire*” true, the pull of capitalism is great with this class

[@Reubenaut]

After watching this video I had a neat idea of a DM giving a player the actual notes for a spell and having to decipher it themselves from a riddle to as stated a poem. It could be fun to try to actually figure out what spell you have and maybe have a mechanical bonus to learning it this way instead of as normal.

[@ShuyinK]

I made a Motherly Conjuration Wizard that carried two books, One was her "Cook Book" which was her spell tome, but her Spell Tome was her actual Cook Book for food, as she was the Mother of the group making sure everyone was fed and did repairs and that on their clothing by hand

[@wilsonreyes124]

Learn spells by leveling” BUT ZEE what about the C L E R I C they technically know all the spells but they get the slots later on.

[@nathankurtz8045]

Same for druid and paladin. But all their spell lists are smaller than the wizard's.

[@MetharosKM]

I mean, TECHNICALLY the Cleric doesn't necessarily know any spells at all. Their deity does. The Cleric just gets information revealed or power shared as necessary to cause a spell to happen, if their chosen deity has given them the proper access level.

[@connorferguson2269]

0:09 look man i know your a bit salty about mucking up your spell book but yah don't need to go casting a Power Word:Kill over it.

[@minerturtle45]

i wanna make a wizard whose "spellbook" is just a load of scattered notes stuffed into a scroll case

[@FunnyLittleGnome66]

Something interesting to note is that if you (as a wizard) and another player (also as a wizard) both pick exactly the spells the others don't have and have a sufficient amount of gold you can fill each others' spellbook up really fast. Another 'hack' you can do is dip 1 or 2 levels in wizard as a spellcaster (say, sorcerer or cleric) and then if you have enough gold copy everything from the wizard's spellbook into your own spellbook and then cast those wizard spells with your non-wizard spellslots. I've been greatly enjoying the latter as a cleric/wizard (11/2) as there's really not a lot of overlap in both classes' spell lists and it's oddly freeing, I legit feel like I can do anything when it comes to spellcasting.

[@plainwelltoad]

I'm sure it's been pointed out already, but, just in case: wizards can cast any rituals from their spellbook, prepared or not. Awesome animation as usual. Love these videos!

[@mcdoogle_robotman]

Steal other wizards spellbooks, got it.

[@DyrgeAfterDark]

Roll a perception check Sorry you failed, and triggered a Glyph of Warding.

[@erikburzinski8248]

@@DyrgeAfterDark I cast dispel on the book before opening it.

[@DyrgeAfterDark]

@@erikburzinski8248 Roll a spell check to overcome the Spells DC

[@thnecromaniac]

Do you know Celestial, Infernal, and Draconic? Also can you understand my Jumbled research notes? If you can, then I guess you deserve the knowledge of my spells...

[@firestorm165]

And that friends is why the spells "contingency" and "immolation" are vital to have in your armoury. "Upon either my death or the event that my spell book is moved more than 100 feet away from me the spell immolation will be cast targeting the holder of the book or if no one is holding it the book itself" To would be thieves enjoy the magical napalm which if by some miracle you survive completely destroys your prize along with most of your possessions. To anyone that kills me enjoy my final f**k you

[@andr0oS]

3:27 haha, no, you couldn't.

[@TheSilverCanine_R3D-H]

THE ONLY SPELL THAT MATTERS IS FIREBALL JUST FIREBALL JUST FIREBALL JUST FIREBALL

[@prowler6435]

DM: Okay, it's Jerry's turn, so he'll cast fireball. Jerry: I might not! DM: Fine. What are you going to do, Jerry? Jerry: I CAST FIREBALL!

[@malign3158]

The Order of Scribes wizard subclass does a huge amount of spellbook and spell copying shenanigans along with a magical semi-familiar thing called the Awakened Spellbook. The idea is that the Order is interested in recording and preserving magical knowledge that may otherwise be lost to time, decay, or self-interest, and as such the time you need to copy spells is reduced to a couple minutes per spell level using a magical quill you can produce at will rather than the couple hours it would normally take. In addition, if your spellbook is ever lost, destroyed, or you want to change the book, you can simply write some sigils in a blank book and all of your spells will disappear from your old one and be transferred into the new one. There’s more but you can read about it online