Mechanically you get them out of thin air. However, Thematically that's not where they are coming from. They are actually things that you are experimenting with in your free time up until you level to manage to create the effects that those spells have. Wizards aren't just about copying each other's work but also about experimentation along studied lines of thinking to be able to understand them as well. The experimentation on new spells that you don't just copy over is in essence how you are deepening your understanding of knowledge and those spells are part of your reward for doing so. As is eventually being able to use higher spell levels of spells.
Personally, I always presumed that the spellbook you carry has the spells already inscribed in them and you just couldn't understand how to cast them yet. Or maybe they're a gift from your local god of magic, and they do literally come out of thin air. There's no one reason for why they showed up in your book.
There's so much of the wizard's tropes that's kind of just hand waved, downplayed and abstracted so that it doesn't get in the way of gameplay. Most of us are aware that these spells aren't literally pulled out of the wizard's ass, but they might as well be with the sheer number of justifications you can use for how they got there.
Its actually a minor gripe I have with 5e wizards. One of the major reasons for wizards to go dungeon delving has always been to see if they can find scrolls or books for more spells. I get why its no longer a big thing - it gets in the way of the major overall arcs and its less fun if you can't use spells - but I can't help but feel like it hurts individual stories just a little bit.
Mechanically you get them out of thin air. However, Thematically that's not where they are coming from. They are actually things that you are experimenting with in your free time up until you level to manage to create the effects that those spells have. Wizards aren't just about copying each other's work but also about experimentation along studied lines of thinking to be able to understand them as well. The experimentation on new spells that you don't just copy over is in essence how you are deepening your understanding of knowledge and those spells are part of your reward for doing so. As is eventually being able to use higher spell levels of spells.
Personally, I always presumed that the spellbook you carry has the spells already inscribed in them and you just couldn't understand how to cast them yet. Or maybe they're a gift from your local god of magic, and they do literally come out of thin air. There's no one reason for why they showed up in your book.
There's so much of the wizard's tropes that's kind of just hand waved, downplayed and abstracted so that it doesn't get in the way of gameplay. Most of us are aware that these spells aren't literally pulled out of the wizard's ass, but they might as well be with the sheer number of justifications you can use for how they got there.
Its actually a minor gripe I have with 5e wizards. One of the major reasons for wizards to go dungeon delving has always been to see if they can find scrolls or books for more spells. I get why its no longer a big thing - it gets in the way of the major overall arcs and its less fun if you can't use spells - but I can't help but feel like it hurts individual stories just a little bit.
Just getting those spells is a whole lot older than just 5e. With no real explanation to it in most of those versions. It's kind of like some spells that used to do more things than they do now to make them iconic but now they do something and we have no reason or understanding why or many of us don't know how dumbed down and generic the spell has become.
As for them appearing in your book. All other spells take experimentation and deciphering to put into your book even when they are coming from another source. It's easy to take this and spread it to the spells that come from your level. It's just not stated anywhere. Though I believe it was originally if you go back far enough. That's a detail I don't remember as well at this point. The hand waving actually got really thick on a number of things in 3.0/3.5 and you can see it in games based off them like PF as well with only the barest of contexts if any at all sadly.
As for Everybody turning their third level into fireball that another mentioned. There is a reason that it's a general spell. Technically there used to be a few ways to kind of do the spell even though the end result was effectively mostly the same (this is how Fireball itself has been dumbed down even more). And in some ways it's a basic blueprint effect that is expanded upon in some other spells. Though I can confidently say that not everybody actually picks fireball at 3rd level. Even being purposely overpowered in 5e it's not necessarily the best choice. It's just the easy choice. I have had several wizards where i haven't taken it because other things would be very useful and I haven't felt like spending all the other players and the bad guys turns trying to figure out the best spot to drop my AoE and likely which party members I can hit with it with the least effect only to watch half of them ruin that position as soon as I figure it out. I only take it when I'm just playing an out and out blaster which is the only real use for the spell. But if I had the 2nd Edition Lightning Bolt I would never take fireball at all. With Haste, Counterspell, dispel magic, Blink (a somewhat unpredictable but still potentially powerful defensive spell), and Maybe even Intellect Fortress as generally useful spells, and some individually useful or personal flavor spells like Sleet storm (powerful area control for the level), Leomund's Tiny hut, Mirror Image, Tidal Wave, any number of summoning spells, and a bunch of other utility stuff I'm forgetting off the top of my head. Fireball is just not the king of spells for this level that it's made out to be, It's just a narrow scope specialized spell. I personally classify it more as the Beginner's Pick spell rather than the must have.
There's so much of the wizard's tropes that's kind of just hand waved, downplayed and abstracted so that it doesn't get in the way of gameplay. Most of us are aware that these spells aren't literally pulled out of the wizard's ass, but they might as well be with the sheer number of justifications you can use for how they got there.
Its actually a minor gripe I have with 5e wizards. One of the major reasons for wizards to go dungeon delving has always been to see if they can find scrolls or books for more spells. I get why its no longer a big thing - it gets in the way of the major overall arcs and its less fun if you can't use spells - but I can't help but feel like it hurts individual stories just a little bit.
The thing is, you can still insert all that stuff if you want to. When I hit 3, I didn't get my subclass until I met with a representative of the school. The druid didn't get her circle until the next full moon after she hit level 2.
5e is trying to please a wide array of players. It just makes sense that you codify the most basic restrictions and then if people want more, they can just add them in themselves. It's a better approach than imposing all the restrictions on people who don't want them.
If we as players feel there is a story deficiency, we have the power to fix it. Moving that from hard rules to our choice was a good thing IMO.
There's so much of the wizard's tropes that's kind of just hand waved, downplayed and abstracted so that it doesn't get in the way of gameplay. Most of us are aware that these spells aren't literally pulled out of the wizard's ass, but they might as well be with the sheer number of justifications you can use for how they got there.
Its actually a minor gripe I have with 5e wizards. One of the major reasons for wizards to go dungeon delving has always been to see if they can find scrolls or books for more spells. I get why its no longer a big thing - it gets in the way of the major overall arcs and its less fun if you can't use spells - but I can't help but feel like it hurts individual stories just a little bit.
The thing is, you can still insert all that stuff if you want to. When I hit 3, I didn't get my subclass until I met with a representative of the school. The druid didn't get her circle until the next full moon after she hit level 2.
5e is trying to please a wide array of players. It just makes sense that you codify the most basic restrictions and then if people want more, they can just add them in themselves. It's a better approach than imposing all the restrictions on people who don't want them.
If we as players feel there is a story deficiency, we have the power to fix it. Moving that from hard rules to our choice was a good thing IMO.
Not only do we have the power to fix it. But in some respects being a Role Playing Game. It's actually our obligation to some extent to insert the story rather simply relying on everybody else to insert it for us since we play an active part in bringing the characters and the events they go through and to some extent the world around us to life.
I've forgone it for a few groups. But I've tended to prefer that these things take place at least in the downtime when the character is doing things but we aren't actively controlling all of them such as relaxing, living their lives, the little things they might be doing while taking breaks and thigns like that which we often gloss over in favor for the more intensive or engaging parts of the story. But they are something scenes can certainly be ran for as well if you've got a good dm that's willing to take a little time. And it doesn't always have to be part of the main session when it happens. Matt Mercer actually made a couple of examples of this when it came to Beau learning new technique's for her monk subclass fairly early on in the second Critical Role Campaign.
Well with Tasha's they technically have formulas written for all the wizard cantrips and you just pick a new one to swap out on long rest.
Cantrip Formulas
3rd-level wizard feature
You have scribed a set of arcane formulas in your spellbook that you can use to formulate a cantrip in your mind. Whenever you finish a long rest and consult those formulas in your spellbook, you can replace one wizard cantrip you know with another cantrip from the wizard spell list.
That is an exception. But we shuld still keep in mind it's an optional exception. And I'm still trying to remember a few of these optional rules. Sad to say even though I'm making a wizard that one isn't actually high on my list.
If I am a LEVEL 4 ELF WIZARD I should have, (and please correct my math)..
5 Cantrips? Start with 4. Add 1, when you get to level 4, from the list of Cantrips available to a Wizard in the Player's Handbook.
12 Copied Spells? Start with 6. Add 2, for each gained level after level 1 and added from the Wizard spell list in the Player's Handbook. Also given, you did not acquire any spell scrolls on your quests, though highly unlikely.
A 4th level wizard will have 4 cantrips. If you're a High Elf, you get an additional wizard cantrip for 5 in total.
You will also have 12 spells (8x 1st level spells and 4x spells that are 1st or 2nd level) that are free. You may get additional spells if found and scribed in the campaign.
You can prepare a number of spells equal to your level plus your Intelligence mod.
If we assume High Elf and Point Buy/Standard Array for initial stats and assuming you used the 4th level ASI for increasing your INT you would have +4 Int Mod, so you would be able to prepare 8 spells.
A 4th level wizard will have 4 cantrips. If you're a High Elf, you get an additional wizard cantrip for 5 in total.
You will also have 12 spells (8x 1st level spells and 4x spells that are 1st or 2nd level) that are free. You may get additional spells if found and scribed in the campaign.
You can prepare a number of spells equal to your level plus your Intelligence mod.
If we assume High Elf and Point Buy/Standard Array for initial stats and assuming you used the 4th level ASI for increasing your INT you would have +4 Int Mod, so you would be able to prepare 8 spells.
Copied/prepared spells can be any combination of 1st lvl and 2nd lvl spells (e.g. 12 copied, 6 1st, 6 2nd)?
With the understanding that a 1st lvl spells can only be cast using a 1st lvl spell slot and a 2nd lvl spell can only be cast using a 2nd lvl spell slot.
A 4th level wizard will have 4 cantrips. If you're a High Elf, you get an additional wizard cantrip for 5 in total.
You will also have 12 spells (8x 1st level spells and 4x spells that are 1st or 2nd level) that are free. You may get additional spells if found and scribed in the campaign.
You can prepare a number of spells equal to your level plus your Intelligence mod.
If we assume High Elf and Point Buy/Standard Array for initial stats and assuming you used the 4th level ASI for increasing your INT you would have +4 Int Mod, so you would be able to prepare 8 spells.
Copied/prepared spells can be any combination of 1st lvl and 2nd lvl spells (e.g. 12 copied, 6 1st, 6 2nd)?
With the understanding that a 1st lvl spells can only be cast using a 1st lvl spell slot and a 2nd lvl spell can only be cast using a 2nd lvl spell slot.
You can prepare spells of any level. If you had 8x 1st level spells and 4x 2nd level spells, for example, and you could prepare up to 8 spells then you could prepare all the 1st level spells, or you could prepare 4x 1st levels and all your 2nd level, or any such combination.
You can cast 1st level spells using spell slots of 1st level or higher. You can cast 2nd level spells of 2nd level or higher. If you cast a spell using a spell slot that is higher in level than the spell being cast, then the spell becomes that higher level for that casting. Some spells have additional effects or increased effects when being cast at a higher level. For example, Charm Person is a 1st level spell but you could cast it with a 2nd level spell slot and if you do it becomes a 2nd level spell for that casting - and it lets you target an extra person when you do. Disguise Self is also a 1st level spell and you could cast it using a 2nd level spell slot. It would become a 2nd level spell but this spell has no extra benefits when being cast at higher level, but this is still something you can do (you could be out of out of 1st level spell slots, for instance). Spells becoming higher level when cast using higher level slots is important when you start using spell slots of 4th level or higher, due to other spells like Dispel Magic and Counterspell. For example, if you cast Fireball at its base, 3rd, level it can be countered by Counterspell with automatic success but if you had cast that fireball with a 4th level slot, that counterspell will not be automatically successful and a check would be involved which means they might fail to counter your fireball and if they do, your fireball not only damages them but due to being cast at higher level would do extra damage as well.
So, here's my Homebrew Version of how magic users in my Campaign can learn new spells and create copies of their spellbook - among other things. If you like anything from my creation, or have suggestions on how I can improve it - please feel free to use, tweak, and comment on, it as you wish! <3 (Note: I'm using a Homebrew Map I found on Patreon of a Wizarding College for the GAM in my game).
The Grand Academy of Magic (Homebrew Wizard's School) The Grand Academy of Magic (or the GAM) is where Wizards go to learn new spells, have their spellbooks copied and stored as backups, store small treasure chests, and, occasionally, fight monsters and find tasks (quests) to complete.
Non-Wizards are welcome to accompany their Wizard companions to the GAM and utilize their free storage and sleeping quarters, of which there is an endless supply, and join in on Quests, as well as seek out Arcane Knowledge to enhance their Arcana Proficiency.
Wizards and Non-Wizards alike are able to take classes in Arcana and gain up to five levels of Arcane Scholarship. Each level adds a +1 Modifier to the Arcana (Int) Skill of the student taking the Arcane Knowledge class and caps out at 5.
Each class takes 2 weeks, and the cost starts at 200 GP, and increases by 100 additional GP each Level, up to 600GP for the final course in Arcane Knowledge.
At which point, the student would become an Arcana Master, receiving this Title, which informs others that they are Experts in Arcane Knowledge. In addition to the benefits of gaining Arcane knowledge, battling the occasional monster, utilizing free storage and sleeping quarters, and gaining knowledge of new spells, the GAM is a resource of knowledge and rare beasties.
The only place in all the realms of the Multiverse where Book Dragons may be found is in the libraries of the Grand Academy of Magic. And within the libraries, adventurers may search for rare and wondrous spells, books, and scrolls. Being a place of great magic, magical items and creatures alike are often drawn there, and sometimes a very, very lucky adventurer can happen upon one of them.
- Once per session, you can: - Attend an Arcane History Class (each attendance counts as one week of schooling, meaning that attending one level twice, after paying the appropriate fee, completes that level of class and the player gains a +1 Modifier to Arcana, at which point, during the next session, the next highest level can then begin.) - Perform an Investigation check in the Library for a chance to find a magical beastie to capture, or a rare scroll or spell - Perform a Long or Short Rest in the GAM - Have up to three spells copied over to your backup spellbook (at a flat fee of 10GP per spell for another Wizard to do it for you in ten minutes - these Wizards are trained in spell copying techniques and are quite powerful, so they take much less time to do so.) - Use the resources available at the GAM to work on creating your spellbook copies. (This will cost less than having another wizard do it for you, at only 5GP per spell, but the spell will be unavailable to you for two hours. Any player copying or learning new spells to be put into a spellbook, that has both Ink and a Component Pouch in order to do so, avoids these costs.)
- How to get there: In order to visit the Grand Academy of Magic, you must locate an Apparition of Archimedes, the Owl of Magical Knowledge. Archimedes has apparitions all over the realms and all over the world of Uo, and he alone has the ability to transport adventurers to the GAM, as he is the one who created it! No one has seen the REAL Archimedes in centuries, but phantom versions of him can be found throughout the land.
While he does not charge a fee to do so, in order for him to agree to transport you the first time, you must perform a task for him. The task he requests is different for every adventurer or group, but each task works to build the Arcana within the school. So, the task may involve capturing a magical creature, tracking down a lost scroll, or convincing a particular Wizard (also referred to as Mages) to assist the school in some way.
Whatever the task, once you have completed it to his satisfaction, you will forever be granted access to the Academy and transportation through Archimedes forthwith. There are even tales of special, magical items crafted by Wizards at the Academy through the ages which allow access to the Academy without needing to use Archimedes...but these are only rumors.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Guiding Goddess to the Squid Squad | An elegant fool from a more civilized age | She/Her/Dungeon Master "I have an intelligence of six. I know what I'm doing.”
I re-read copying spells into your spellbook. From my reading copying a spell from a scroll does not use the scroll, at least per the wizard section in the PHB. Is there another place that states copying a scroll uses it?
I re-read copying spells into your spellbook. From my reading copying a spell from a scroll does not use the scroll, at least per the wizard section in the PHB. Is there another place that states copying a scroll uses it?
A wizard spell on a spell scroll can be copied just as spells in spellbooks can be copied. When a spell is copied from a spell scroll, the copier must succeed on an Intelligence (Arcana) check with a DC equal to 10 + the spell's level. If the check succeeds, the spell is successfully copied. Whether the check succeeds or fails, the spell scroll is destroyed.
How does creating your own spells work. as an Example in Campaign 2 of Critical Role. Caleb Widowgast created his own fire spell called "Widogasts Web of Fire".
How does creating your own spells work. as an Example in Campaign 2 of Critical Role. Caleb Widowgast created his own fire spell called "Widogasts Web of Fire".
You tell the DM "I want a spell that does XYZ" and the DM either approves or denies it.
If approved, use Homebrew tools on here to make it. Once made, go to your sheet, turn Homebrew on, and add the spell you made to your spellbook.
If you're asking for rules for creating spells, guidelines are in the DMG: Creating Spells. or at least guidelines for damage spells. Utility spells are basically 'compare to an existing' and let DM decide level.
I have a question regarding copying spells that you already know from one spellbook to another. Why is there a gold cost for the ink? I understand the cost for using materials to learn the spell, but why do you need a specific ink? The first answer I get is because of the magic in the ink, but there is no magic in the ink or anywhere in the spellbook (unless you're order of scribes and have an awakened spellbook). If there was magic in the ink I think that would be some type of rune magic. The other answer I get is that you need to get a high quality ink that doesn't splotch, blot, or smear. This doesn't make sense to me either as splotching and blotting comes from a poor quality pen-not ink. Smearing comes from trying to hurry the job and smudging the ink with your hand before it dries. Most times when the ink becomes unreadable it is because the paper was damaged. Even when paper gets wet but doesn't dissolve the ink is still readable. It makes more sense to me to require a specific high quality pen that allows you do write fine lines without splotching. It also makes more sense to require specific paper which would be more resistant to environmental hazards. Am I just missing something?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Personally, I always presumed that the spellbook you carry has the spells already inscribed in them and you just couldn't understand how to cast them yet. Or maybe they're a gift from your local god of magic, and they do literally come out of thin air. There's no one reason for why they showed up in your book.
There's so much of the wizard's tropes that's kind of just hand waved, downplayed and abstracted so that it doesn't get in the way of gameplay. Most of us are aware that these spells aren't literally pulled out of the wizard's ass, but they might as well be with the sheer number of justifications you can use for how they got there.
Its actually a minor gripe I have with 5e wizards. One of the major reasons for wizards to go dungeon delving has always been to see if they can find scrolls or books for more spells. I get why its no longer a big thing - it gets in the way of the major overall arcs and its less fun if you can't use spells - but I can't help but feel like it hurts individual stories just a little bit.
Just getting those spells is a whole lot older than just 5e. With no real explanation to it in most of those versions. It's kind of like some spells that used to do more things than they do now to make them iconic but now they do something and we have no reason or understanding why or many of us don't know how dumbed down and generic the spell has become.
As for them appearing in your book. All other spells take experimentation and deciphering to put into your book even when they are coming from another source. It's easy to take this and spread it to the spells that come from your level. It's just not stated anywhere. Though I believe it was originally if you go back far enough. That's a detail I don't remember as well at this point. The hand waving actually got really thick on a number of things in 3.0/3.5 and you can see it in games based off them like PF as well with only the barest of contexts if any at all sadly.
As for Everybody turning their third level into fireball that another mentioned. There is a reason that it's a general spell. Technically there used to be a few ways to kind of do the spell even though the end result was effectively mostly the same (this is how Fireball itself has been dumbed down even more). And in some ways it's a basic blueprint effect that is expanded upon in some other spells. Though I can confidently say that not everybody actually picks fireball at 3rd level. Even being purposely overpowered in 5e it's not necessarily the best choice. It's just the easy choice. I have had several wizards where i haven't taken it because other things would be very useful and I haven't felt like spending all the other players and the bad guys turns trying to figure out the best spot to drop my AoE and likely which party members I can hit with it with the least effect only to watch half of them ruin that position as soon as I figure it out. I only take it when I'm just playing an out and out blaster which is the only real use for the spell. But if I had the 2nd Edition Lightning Bolt I would never take fireball at all. With Haste, Counterspell, dispel magic, Blink (a somewhat unpredictable but still potentially powerful defensive spell), and Maybe even Intellect Fortress as generally useful spells, and some individually useful or personal flavor spells like Sleet storm (powerful area control for the level), Leomund's Tiny hut, Mirror Image, Tidal Wave, any number of summoning spells, and a bunch of other utility stuff I'm forgetting off the top of my head. Fireball is just not the king of spells for this level that it's made out to be, It's just a narrow scope specialized spell. I personally classify it more as the Beginner's Pick spell rather than the must have.
The thing is, you can still insert all that stuff if you want to. When I hit 3, I didn't get my subclass until I met with a representative of the school. The druid didn't get her circle until the next full moon after she hit level 2.
5e is trying to please a wide array of players. It just makes sense that you codify the most basic restrictions and then if people want more, they can just add them in themselves. It's a better approach than imposing all the restrictions on people who don't want them.
If we as players feel there is a story deficiency, we have the power to fix it. Moving that from hard rules to our choice was a good thing IMO.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Not only do we have the power to fix it. But in some respects being a Role Playing Game. It's actually our obligation to some extent to insert the story rather simply relying on everybody else to insert it for us since we play an active part in bringing the characters and the events they go through and to some extent the world around us to life.
I've forgone it for a few groups. But I've tended to prefer that these things take place at least in the downtime when the character is doing things but we aren't actively controlling all of them such as relaxing, living their lives, the little things they might be doing while taking breaks and thigns like that which we often gloss over in favor for the more intensive or engaging parts of the story. But they are something scenes can certainly be ran for as well if you've got a good dm that's willing to take a little time. And it doesn't always have to be part of the main session when it happens. Matt Mercer actually made a couple of examples of this when it came to Beau learning new technique's for her monk subclass fairly early on in the second Critical Role Campaign.
No, cantrips do not go to your spellbook.
The rules for adding spells are also meant to be that way so it isn't game breaking imo.
Well with Tasha's they technically have formulas written for all the wizard cantrips and you just pick a new one to swap out on long rest.
Cantrip Formulas
3rd-level wizard feature
You have scribed a set of arcane formulas in your spellbook that you can use to formulate a cantrip in your mind. Whenever you finish a long rest and consult those formulas in your spellbook, you can replace one wizard cantrip you know with another cantrip from the wizard spell list.
That is an exception. But we shuld still keep in mind it's an optional exception. And I'm still trying to remember a few of these optional rules. Sad to say even though I'm making a wizard that one isn't actually high on my list.
If I am a LEVEL 4 ELF WIZARD I should have, (and please correct my math)..
5 Cantrips? Start with 4. Add 1, when you get to level 4, from the list of Cantrips available to a Wizard in the Player's Handbook.
12 Copied Spells? Start with 6. Add 2, for each gained level after level 1 and added from the Wizard spell list in the Player's Handbook. Also given, you did not acquire any spell scrolls on your quests, though highly unlikely.
8 Prepared Spells? From the 12 Copied Spells.
Please say "yes"
A 4th level wizard will have 4 cantrips. If you're a High Elf, you get an additional wizard cantrip for 5 in total.
You will also have 12 spells (8x 1st level spells and 4x spells that are 1st or 2nd level) that are free. You may get additional spells if found and scribed in the campaign.
You can prepare a number of spells equal to your level plus your Intelligence mod.
If we assume High Elf and Point Buy/Standard Array for initial stats and assuming you used the 4th level ASI for increasing your INT you would have +4 Int Mod, so you would be able to prepare 8 spells.
My Homebrew: Races | Subclasses | Backgrounds | Spells | Magic Items | Feats
Need help with Homebrew? Check out this FAQ/Guide thread by IamSposta
See My Youtube Videos for Tips & Tricks using D&D Beyond
Copied/prepared spells can be any combination of 1st lvl and 2nd lvl spells (e.g. 12 copied, 6 1st, 6 2nd)?
With the understanding that a 1st lvl spells can only be cast using a 1st lvl spell slot and a 2nd lvl spell can only be cast using a 2nd lvl spell slot.
You can prepare spells of any level. If you had 8x 1st level spells and 4x 2nd level spells, for example, and you could prepare up to 8 spells then you could prepare all the 1st level spells, or you could prepare 4x 1st levels and all your 2nd level, or any such combination.
You can cast 1st level spells using spell slots of 1st level or higher. You can cast 2nd level spells of 2nd level or higher. If you cast a spell using a spell slot that is higher in level than the spell being cast, then the spell becomes that higher level for that casting. Some spells have additional effects or increased effects when being cast at a higher level. For example, Charm Person is a 1st level spell but you could cast it with a 2nd level spell slot and if you do it becomes a 2nd level spell for that casting - and it lets you target an extra person when you do. Disguise Self is also a 1st level spell and you could cast it using a 2nd level spell slot. It would become a 2nd level spell but this spell has no extra benefits when being cast at higher level, but this is still something you can do (you could be out of out of 1st level spell slots, for instance). Spells becoming higher level when cast using higher level slots is important when you start using spell slots of 4th level or higher, due to other spells like Dispel Magic and Counterspell. For example, if you cast Fireball at its base, 3rd, level it can be countered by Counterspell with automatic success but if you had cast that fireball with a 4th level slot, that counterspell will not be automatically successful and a check would be involved which means they might fail to counter your fireball and if they do, your fireball not only damages them but due to being cast at higher level would do extra damage as well.
My Homebrew: Races | Subclasses | Backgrounds | Spells | Magic Items | Feats
Need help with Homebrew? Check out this FAQ/Guide thread by IamSposta
See My Youtube Videos for Tips & Tricks using D&D Beyond
So, here's my Homebrew Version of how magic users in my Campaign can learn new spells and create copies of their spellbook - among other things. If you like anything from my creation, or have suggestions on how I can improve it - please feel free to use, tweak, and comment on, it as you wish! <3
(Note: I'm using a Homebrew Map I found on Patreon of a Wizarding College for the GAM in my game).
The Grand Academy of Magic
(Homebrew Wizard's School)
The Grand Academy of Magic (or the GAM) is where Wizards go to learn new spells, have their spellbooks copied and stored as backups, store small treasure chests, and, occasionally, fight monsters and find tasks (quests) to complete.
Non-Wizards are welcome to accompany their Wizard companions to the GAM and utilize their free storage and sleeping quarters, of which there is an endless supply, and join in on Quests, as well as seek out Arcane Knowledge to enhance their Arcana Proficiency.
Wizards and Non-Wizards alike are able to take classes in Arcana and gain up to five levels of Arcane Scholarship.
Each level adds a +1 Modifier to the Arcana (Int) Skill of the student taking the Arcane Knowledge class and caps out at 5.
Each class takes 2 weeks, and the cost starts at 200 GP, and increases by 100 additional GP each Level, up to 600GP for the final course in Arcane Knowledge.
At which point, the student would become an Arcana Master, receiving this Title, which informs others that they are Experts in Arcane Knowledge.
In addition to the benefits of gaining Arcane knowledge, battling the occasional monster, utilizing free storage and sleeping quarters, and gaining knowledge of new spells, the GAM is a resource of knowledge and rare beasties.
The only place in all the realms of the Multiverse where Book Dragons may be found is in the libraries of the Grand Academy of Magic. And within the libraries, adventurers may search for rare and wondrous spells, books, and scrolls. Being a place of great magic, magical items and creatures alike are often drawn there, and sometimes a very, very lucky adventurer can happen upon one of them.
- Once per session, you can:
- Attend an Arcane History Class (each attendance counts as one week of schooling, meaning that attending one level twice, after paying the appropriate fee, completes that level of class and the player gains a +1 Modifier to Arcana, at which point, during the next session, the next highest level can then begin.)
- Perform an Investigation check in the Library for a chance to find a magical beastie to capture, or a rare scroll or spell
- Perform a Long or Short Rest in the GAM
- Have up to three spells copied over to your backup spellbook (at a flat fee of 10GP per spell for another Wizard to do it for you in ten minutes - these Wizards are trained in spell copying techniques and are quite powerful, so they take much less time to do so.)
- Use the resources available at the GAM to work on creating your spellbook copies. (This will cost less than having another wizard do it for you, at only 5GP per spell, but the spell will be unavailable to you for two hours. Any player copying or learning new spells to be put into a spellbook, that has both Ink and a Component Pouch in order to do so, avoids these costs.)
- How to get there:
In order to visit the Grand Academy of Magic, you must locate an Apparition of Archimedes, the Owl of Magical Knowledge. Archimedes has apparitions all over the realms and all over the world of Uo, and he alone has the ability to transport adventurers to the GAM, as he is the one who created it! No one has seen the REAL Archimedes in centuries, but phantom versions of him can be found throughout the land.
While he does not charge a fee to do so, in order for him to agree to transport you the first time, you must perform a task for him.
The task he requests is different for every adventurer or group, but each task works to build the Arcana within the school. So, the task may involve capturing a magical creature, tracking down a lost scroll, or convincing a particular Wizard (also referred to as Mages) to assist the school in some way.
Whatever the task, once you have completed it to his satisfaction, you will forever be granted access to the Academy and transportation through Archimedes forthwith.
There are even tales of special, magical items crafted by Wizards at the Academy through the ages which allow access to the Academy without needing to use Archimedes...but these are only rumors.
Guiding Goddess to the Squid Squad | An elegant fool from a more civilized age | She/Her/Dungeon Master
"I have an intelligence of six. I know what I'm doing.”
I re-read copying spells into your spellbook. From my reading copying a spell from a scroll does not use the scroll, at least per the wizard section in the PHB. Is there another place that states copying a scroll uses it?
Spell Scroll magic item description.
My Homebrew: Races | Subclasses | Backgrounds | Spells | Magic Items | Feats
Need help with Homebrew? Check out this FAQ/Guide thread by IamSposta
See My Youtube Videos for Tips & Tricks using D&D Beyond
Dnd isn’t Critical Role tho.
How does creating your own spells work. as an Example in Campaign 2 of Critical Role. Caleb Widowgast created his own fire spell called "Widogasts Web of Fire".
You tell the DM "I want a spell that does XYZ" and the DM either approves or denies it.
If approved, use Homebrew tools on here to make it. Once made, go to your sheet, turn Homebrew on, and add the spell you made to your spellbook.
My Homebrew: Races | Subclasses | Backgrounds | Spells | Magic Items | Feats
Need help with Homebrew? Check out this FAQ/Guide thread by IamSposta
See My Youtube Videos for Tips & Tricks using D&D Beyond
If you're asking for rules for creating spells, guidelines are in the DMG: Creating Spells. or at least guidelines for damage spells. Utility spells are basically 'compare to an existing' and let DM decide level.
I have a question regarding copying spells that you already know from one spellbook to another. Why is there a gold cost for the ink? I understand the cost for using materials to learn the spell, but why do you need a specific ink? The first answer I get is because of the magic in the ink, but there is no magic in the ink or anywhere in the spellbook (unless you're order of scribes and have an awakened spellbook). If there was magic in the ink I think that would be some type of rune magic. The other answer I get is that you need to get a high quality ink that doesn't splotch, blot, or smear. This doesn't make sense to me either as splotching and blotting comes from a poor quality pen-not ink. Smearing comes from trying to hurry the job and smudging the ink with your hand before it dries. Most times when the ink becomes unreadable it is because the paper was damaged. Even when paper gets wet but doesn't dissolve the ink is still readable. It makes more sense to me to require a specific high quality pen that allows you do write fine lines without splotching. It also makes more sense to require specific paper which would be more resistant to environmental hazards. Am I just missing something?