I'm doing a little brainstorming around alternatives to the cost of copying spells into spell books, and I'm curious if anyone else has their own rules or any creative ideas.
As it stands, if I want wizards among my players to gain spells beyond the 2 per level (or anyone with the Ritual Caster feat to get more spells at all), the rules as written force me to hand out gold. Sometimes, I prefer to run campaigns where rewards are less material, or where adventurers live more hand to mouth. For any other class, I can arrange other means to meet material needs (e.g. found items, gifts from patrons, and so on). For spells, I can control when new spells are found, but there's no alternative to the 50 gp per level cost. Of course, simply eliminating the cost would solve the problem, but I do like the players to have to make choices on how to spend the resources I distribute. Hence my desire for some alternative ideas. So far, I'm considering one or more of these:
Cheaper cost if it takes longer, like 1 day per spell level instead of 2 hours.
Arcana roll for a "breakthrough" that can end the process sooner, inspired by the Spellcraft rolls to understand spells from 3rd edition (e.g. DC 15 + spell level).
Reduced cost when copying from a spell book or scroll, but also offer ability to research a desired spell from scratch at full cost and longer time if an appropriate library or mentor is available.
Keep in mind that the cost for copying spells isn't like... gold coins vaporizing as they write it down. It's just the cost-equivalent of the specially treated inks and paper they need for the process, plus some money spent on materials the spell requires (although most of such resources are assumed to be included with a component pouch).
My solution would be to allow the player to simply craft this special ink themselves, so then the issue is the player needing to acquire some rare ingredients (maybe blood from specific monsters? Or crushed gemstones or even the juice of a rare berry). Something that involves seeking out and gathering resources rather than spending money in the local Fantasy Staples. I mean... maybe the Fantasy Staples is still out there, and if the player really just scrimps and saves they can get the ink that way to save themselves the hassle, but in general you can use this as a way to reward your Wizard for seeking out dangerous creatures or exploring the land as they travel.
Keep in mind that the cost for copying spells isn't like... gold coins vaporizing as they write it down. It's just the cost-equivalent of the specially treated inks and paper they need for the process, plus some money spent on materials the spell requires (although most of such resources are assumed to be included with a component pouch).
My solution would be to allow the player to simply craft this special ink themselves, so then the issue is the player needing to acquire some rare ingredients (maybe blood from specific monsters? Or crushed gemstones or even the juice of a rare berry). Something that involves seeking out and gathering resources rather than spending money in the local Fantasy Staples. I mean... maybe the Fantasy Staples is still out there, and if the player really just scrimps and saves they can get the ink that way to save themselves the hassle, but in general you can use this as a way to reward your Wizard for seeking out dangerous creatures or exploring the land as they travel.
Oh yeah, well aware what the gold is for. Back in 3e it was 100 gp per spell level for paper and ink, so 5e is an improvement already. The wizard and ritual caster in my current party are eagerly awaiting a trip to Everlund to get their supplies.
I like the idea of harvesting from rare plants and monster carcasses. Thanks for that. Probably use Arcana checks to determine how much is harvested, with advantage granted by proficiency with herbalism kit or alchemist's tools. The more I think about solutions, the more I favour ideas that supplement the rules rather than just changing them.
Glad you liked it! I feel like you're probably gonna get your wizard asking, any time they come across something rare or interesting, whether they can use it to make more inks. Like... find a mystical spring somewhere: "Can I use the water to make ink?" Get attacked by a worm and the rest of the party is just running: "Hey, can we stop and kill this thing? I think I can make some ink out of it!"
The trifecta of resources are: Money, Time, & Experience.
Usually, if something costs less, then it takes more time, or requires more skill, which you've essentially covered with your initial proposals.
TransmorpherDDS' suggestion is a good one, and also applies to magic item crafting. If the players want anything specific, then sending them on a fetch quest is appropriate.
The fourth corner of the "trifecta" is Risk.
You could basically create a "Wild Magic" Wizard feat. This is a little complicated because someone is going to need to keep track of which spells are normal and which are "wild". However, this could allow a Wizard to scribe a spell on the spot in a pinch, but warrant recopying the spell later during downtime, which essentially gives you the best of both.
Perhaps the "Speed Scribing" would give a spell a 50% chance of casting normally, 40% chance of failing, and a 10% chance of backfiring.
Glad you liked it! I feel like you're probably gonna get your wizard asking, any time they come across something rare or interesting, whether they can use it to make more inks. Like... find a mystical spring somewhere: "Can I use the water to make ink?" Get attacked by a worm and the rest of the party is just running: "Hey, can we stop and kill this thing? I think I can make some ink out of it!"
The trifecta of resources are: Money, Time, & Experience.
Usually, if something costs less, then it takes more time, or requires more skill, which you've essentially covered with your initial proposals.
TransmorpherDDS' suggestion is a good one, and also applies to magic item crafting. If the players want anything specific, then sending them on a fetch quest is appropriate.
The fourth corner of the "trifecta" is Risk.
You could basically create a "Wild Magic" Wizard feat. This is a little complicated because someone is going to need to keep track of which spells are normal and which are "wild". However, this could allow a Wizard to scribe a spell on the spot in a pinch, but warrant recopying the spell later during downtime, which essentially gives you the best of both.
Perhaps the "Speed Scribing" would give a spell a 50% chance of casting normally, 40% chance of failing, and a 10% chance of backfiring.
Risk is an interesting consideration. I'll have to mull that one over.
I instituted these house rules, partially to trigger more encounter opportunities:
Straight out of the session 0 rules I presented:
Now, if you get lucky, you can MAKE your own copying materials. This will mitigate the overall cost somewhat: Quill: Feather of a Cockatrice, Griffon, Giant Eagle, or a number of magical Feathered Creatures. (DM's Discretion) Ink: Boiled and refined blood of a Giant Octopus, Giant Squid, Manticore, any Fey, Abberation or Dragon. There is a freshwater version of Giant Octopus found in large lakes. (DM may add more creatures.) Assume that you need one Quill for every level of a spell. If the base 50 GP per spell level cost, the Quill is 10 GP. The Ink makes up 15 GP of the base 50 GP cost per spell level.
So, if you make your own Ink and have the proper Quill's, you can cut your cost in half from the base cost. (Of course, if it is a spell that you can halve the copying costs already, that stacks, bringing your cost down to 25% base cost). If you conjure a creature, you cannot harvest its parts to get ingredients. Only creatures found "in the wild" will work.
If you conjure a creature, you cannot harvest its parts to get ingredients. Only creatures found "in the wild" will work.
Key observation, there. Nice.
It occurs to me that, since copying your own spells only takes 1 hour and 10 gp per spell level, that you might interpret that as meaning experimentation and interpretation accounts for 1 hour and 40 gp per spell level of the total effort, since presumably copying your own spells just needs the fine inks.
Time and tide wait for no one, so here's my first draft, including the rules as written for reference. I used the DMG rules for poison extraction as a baseline.
Your Spellbook
When you find a wizard spell of 1st level or higher, you can add it to your spellbook if it is of a spell level you can prepare.
Copying a spell into your spellbook involves reproducing the basic form of the spell, then deciphering the unique system of notation used by the original author. You must practice the spell until you understand the sounds or gestures required, then transcribe it into your spellbook using your own notation.
For each level of the spell, the process takes 2 hours and costs 50 gp. The cost represents material components you expend as you experiment with the spell to master it, as well as the fine inks you need to record it. Once you have spent this time and money, you can prepare the spell just like your other spells.
You can copy a spell from your own spellbook into another book—for example, if you want to make a backup copy of your spellbook. This is just like copying a new spell into your spellbook, but faster and easier since you understand your own notation and already know how to cast the spell. You need spend only 1 hour and 10 gp for each level of the copied spell.
Spell Scrolls
A wizard spell on a spell scroll can be copied just as spells in spellbooks. When you copy a spell from a spell scroll, you 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. The check is made after you expend the necessary time and money. Whether the check succeeds or fails, the spell scroll is destroyed.
Researching Spells
If you have access to a large library of knowledge, such as might be found in a magical college or major temple dedicated to gods of magic or knowledge, you can use research to ease the process of copying spells and also acquire new spells.
You can use a library to reduce the cost for copying spells to 25 gp per spell level, but the time required increases to one 8-hour workday per spell level as your research takes the place of some experimentation.
You can also research an existing spell from the Wizard class spell list without a spellbook containing the spell. You must spend one 8-hour workday and 50 gp per spell level to research the spell, experiment, and finally scribe the spell.
Finding Your Own Supplies
It’s assumed that you acquire experimental materials and scribing inks from specialty shops and vendors who make a living off such exotic items. So where do they get these in the first place?
Harvesting
Certain creatures may contain exotic substances in their blood, bone, marrow, and other tissues that can be used in magical experimentation and the crafting of magical inks. Anyone trained in the Arcana skill can identify these substances and attempt to extract them.
The creature must be of a type other than beast or humanoid, must have been dead for less than 1 hour, and cannot have been summoned by magic. The process takes 5d6 minutes and requires a successful DC 20 Intelligence (Arcana) check. If the check succeeds, you extract 25 gp worth of materials for the copying of spells. If the check result exceeds the DC by 5 or more, you extract 50 gp worth of material. If you are proficient with alchemist’s tools, you have advantage on the check. Two people can collaborate to gain advantage, but only one check is allowed per corpse.
Foraging
Rare plants may contain exotic materials in their roots, flowers, fruit, and sap. Anyone trained in the Arcana skill can attempt find and exploit these resources.
Searching an area for rare plants and processing them requires 1d4 hours, a herbalism kit, and a successful Intelligence (Arcana) check. The DC of the check is based on the population in the area.
If the area is wilderness without any intelligent population for several miles, the DC is 15.
If the area contains a population such as a village or small town, the DC is 20.
If the area contains a large town or city, the DC is 25 since the area already vigorously farmed by the local residents.
If you are proficient with the herbalism kit, you have advantage on the check. Two people can collaborate to gain advantage as well, but only one check is allowed per area. If the check succeeds, you acquire 25 gp worth of material that can contribute to the copying of spells. If the result exceeds the DC by 5 or more, you acquire an additional 25 gp for every 5 points by which the result exceeds the DC. This process depletes the area of materials for 2d4 x 10 days.
I like it! I think it's good that the DC to forage from enemies is so high... since you leave it open to be harvested from any non-humanoid/beast, that basically means the players will get the option to harvest from almost every combat, so it would quickly become a negligible challenge if they're basically guaranteed 25 GP of supplies after every single combat.
If you conjure a creature, you cannot harvest its parts to get ingredients. Only creatures found "in the wild" will work.
Key observation, there. Nice.
It occurs to me that, since copying your own spells only takes 1 hour and 10 gp per spell level, that you might interpret that as meaning experimentation and interpretation accounts for 1 hour and 40 gp per spell level of the total effort, since presumably copying your own spells just needs the fine inks.
Time and tide wait for no one, so here's my first draft, including the rules as written for reference. I used the DMG rules for poison extraction as a baseline.
Your Spellbook
When you find a wizard spell of 1st level or higher, you can add it to your spellbook if it is of a spell level you can prepare.
Copying a spell into your spellbook involves reproducing the basic form of the spell, then deciphering the unique system of notation used by the original author. You must practice the spell until you understand the sounds or gestures required, then transcribe it into your spellbook using your own notation.
For each level of the spell, the process takes 2 hours and costs 50 gp. The cost represents material components you expend as you experiment with the spell to master it, as well as the fine inks you need to record it. Once you have spent this time and money, you can prepare the spell just like your other spells.
You can copy a spell from your own spellbook into another book—for example, if you want to make a backup copy of your spellbook. This is just like copying a new spell into your spellbook, but faster and easier since you understand your own notation and already know how to cast the spell. You need spend only 1 hour and 10 gp for each level of the copied spell.
Spell Scrolls
A wizard spell on a spell scroll can be copied just as spells in spellbooks. When you copy a spell from a spell scroll, you 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. The check is made after you expend the necessary time and money. Whether the check succeeds or fails, the spell scroll is destroyed.
Researching Spells
If you have access to a large library of knowledge, such as might be found in a magical college or major temple dedicated to gods of magic or knowledge, you can use research to ease the process of copying spells and also acquire new spells.
You can use a library to reduce the cost for copying spells to 25 gp per spell level, but the time required increases to one 8-hour workday per spell level as your research takes the place of some experimentation.
You can also research an existing spell from the Wizard class spell list without a spellbook containing the spell. You must spend one 8-hour workday and 50 gp per spell level to research the spell, experiment, and finally scribe the spell.
Finding Your Own Supplies
It’s assumed that you acquire experimental materials and scribing inks from specialty shops and vendors who make a living off such exotic items. So where do they get these in the first place?
Harvesting
Certain creatures may contain exotic substances in their blood, bone, marrow, and other tissues that can be used in magical experimentation and the crafting of magical inks. Anyone trained in the Arcana skill can identify these substances and attempt to extract them.
The creature must be of a type other than beast or humanoid, must have been dead for less than 1 hour, and cannot have been summoned by magic. The process takes 5d6 minutes and requires a successful DC 20 Intelligence (Arcana) check. If the check succeeds, you extract 25 gp worth of materials for the copying of spells. If the check result exceeds the DC by 5 or more, you extract 50 gp worth of material. If you are proficient with alchemist’s tools, you have advantage on the check. Two people can collaborate to gain advantage, but only one check is allowed per corpse.
Foraging
Rare plants may contain exotic materials in their roots, flowers, fruit, and sap. Anyone trained in the Arcana skill can attempt find and exploit these resources.
Searching an area for rare plants and processing them requires 1d4 hours, a herbalism kit, and a successful Intelligence (Arcana) check. The DC of the check is based on the population in the area.
If the area is wilderness without any intelligent population for several miles, the DC is 15.
If the area contains a population such as a village or small town, the DC is 20.
If the area contains a large town or city, the DC is 25 since the area already vigorously farmed by the local residents.
If you are proficient with the herbalism kit, you have advantage on the check. Two people can collaborate to gain advantage as well, but only one check is allowed per area. If the check succeeds, you acquire 25 gp worth of material that can contribute to the copying of spells. If the result exceeds the DC by 5 or more, you acquire an additional 25 gp for every 5 points by which the result exceeds the DC. This process depletes the area of materials for 2d4 x 10 days.
Interesting. I like the Arcana requirement. I would go with Survivalism for foraging for Rare Plants, but that is really quibbling. Here is the recipe I provided our Druid for making Potions of Healing using the Herbalism Kit:
Potion of Healing Ingredients (2nd level Druid): You can buy all the ingredients for a cost of 25 GP per Potion, though the Named Ingredients may be harder to come by, especially in certain times of the year, or location. Or, you go with a combination of spending 15 GP for General Stuff, and harvest the Named Ingredients by yourself.
15 GP of general stuff, not going to make up a list, all easily obtained, per Potion. Named Ingredients: The following ingredients have a total cost of 10 GP if you want to buy them, or you can acquire them yourself, and who knows what adventures that will lead to? Slipper of the Moon: Only blooms during the 3 days before and after a fill moon, meaning a total of 7 days every lunar cycle. But it blooms year-round. For ease of game play, one lunar cycle occurs every month. The Slipper is found in forests glades, and in some areas of the grasslands, near streams and creeks. Moss found on logs. The moss can only be stored for maximum of 3 months, so this gets tricky in late winter/ early spring. Aloe Vera: You can grow that yourself, in your lab, year-round. A sprinkle of holy water. The tear of a small child, or a grandmother.
As an aside, if you are not handing out gold, how are the other classes getting their gear?
Warriors need to buy better armour and weapons. Spellcasters ned to buy expensive components. All characters need to buy and maintain kits and tools. Everyone needs food and lodging. Spellcasting services cost money.
A wizard needed gold to scribe spells is no different to a fighter needing gold to buy plate armour and a cleric needing gold to buy diamonds for raise dead.
As an aside, if you are not handing out gold, how are the other classes getting their gear?
Warriors need to buy better armour and weapons. Spellcasters ned to buy expensive components. All characters need to buy and maintain kits and tools. Everyone needs food and lodging. Spellcasting services cost money.
A wizard needed gold to scribe spells is no different to a fighter needing gold to buy plate armour and a cleric needing gold to buy diamonds for raise dead.
The vast majority of games revolve around currency, but there is nothing stopping a DM from saying "I will fix your armour if you escort a load of silver to my forge". The barter method was around long before currency.
Very colorful, Vince. I like the thought and detail you put into these for your players. I did consider Survival, but I decided that was more about edible plants than plants good for arcane experiments and scribing.
As an aside, if you are not handing out gold, how are the other classes getting their gear?
Warriors need to buy better armour and weapons. Spellcasters ned to buy expensive components. All characters need to buy and maintain kits and tools. Everyone needs food and lodging. Spellcasting services cost money.
A wizard needed gold to scribe spells is no different to a fighter needing gold to buy plate armour and a cleric needing gold to buy diamonds for raise dead.
First, it's not that there's no gold. It's about using player economy to set tone and atmosphere. Having enough coin to buy food, tools, basic weapons is very different than being able to spend 200 gp for a new 4th level spell whenever you like. It's also not to say that all my campaigns run this way. Sometimes I'm happy to be generous with the treasure hoards, other times PCs have to forage and hunt their own food and sleep in the rough because they can't afford an inn. Might even be within the same campaign.
There are all sorts of ways to hand out gear other than giving the PCs all the gold. I can write opportunities into the campaign unprompted or at the request of my players. Cleric wants diamonds? Forge an alliance with a dwarf clan known for mining them. Fighter wants plate armor? Gain favour with a local lord renowned for his knights. Earn a wealthy patron, make powerful allies... it all depends on how I choose to balance the needs of the campaign story with the player character stories. Or maybe diamonds are expensive and scarce, and raise dead is a rare and uncertain luxury, not at all a given. Maybe plate armor is reserved as a sign of nobility, and some peasant adventurer warrior might never get a suit, or if they do, can't show it off in public for fear of getting accused of murdering a noble knight to acquire it.
The key difference with all the other examples is that the other classes don't actually need gold; they need diamonds, plate armor, etc.. Gold is only one way to get them. The vagueness of the rules as written around wizards experimenting and buying special inks, that is to say leaving those open to interpretation, means deciding what those are and how to get them when gold is not plentiful, which is essentially what I'm doing here.
Oh, and spellcasting is never for sale in my campaigns. Magic items never are either, beyond healing potions and, maybe, spell scrolls. Magic is not a commodity.
Excellent ideas as well, Lurky. No reason my wizards can't seek patrons and alliances just as you suggest, in the same way I suggest other classes can to meet their needs in addition or in preference to the "crafting"-style options I'm going to provide.
With regards to the spellcasting services, I'm differentiating between making a living with magic vs. selling spells. In my campaigns (which are predominantly Forgotten Realms based), spellcasting is rare, exponentially more so as power level increases. The overwhelming majority of magic practitioners are the equivalent of a commoner with the Magic Initiate feat. Anything more powerful requires dedication. No god imbues a mortal with divine power so that they can sell cure wounds at 10 gp per casting. Wizards don't undertake years of arduous training and warlocks don't forge pacts with powerful beings just to hang up a shingle with a menu of spells for sale. They each have their own goals and drives, which in turn determine how they make their way in the world. So, a temple may agree to heal a party, but it's going to be in exchange for community service or other work to move forward the temple's goals. The party can find a wizard to cast teleport circle to get them cross-country, but they probably had to contact the Harpers or Arcane Brotherhood or some other network to find a wizard of such power, indebting themselves to that faction in the process as well as to the caster and their goals. None of these groups want something as mundane as money in exchange for their services. The party might find a fellow adventuring mage or priest to lend a hand, but those sorts are going to want to join in on the chance for greater riches or higher ideals (depending on the adventure), not just cast a spell for a handful of coins.
For my campaign I'm considering a Magic Quill of Scribing. The premise: the players are in a pretty low-resource environment (hostile and all that, escaping the underworld etc.) & part of the quintessential Wizard Cool is to copy spells into your spellbook. For this specific purpose I'd homebrew a magic quill to find, with X charges that let's you spend a spellslot of the lvl you want to scribe (+ destroying said scroll or spellbook when the magic transfers). What could possibly go wrong? (DM still controls the scrolls encountered)
Campaign would run 'till lvl14 (probably), I expect little downtime; Or I could make it 'charge' 1/day (max 5?), where you'd have to spend the charges equal to the lvl of the scribed spell Wonder how it balances 1st tier scribing vs 2nd/3rd tier scribing, but it would be an investment (wait X days) for higher lvl spells, so that's good
// Depends on how often you expect them to transcribe. And how often you want them to. With 1d4 charges you expect them to use 2 charges a day roughly, often more otherwise it would just mean it is always available / You can also do it that you need different quills for different spell levels / A level 1 quill can be a common item / But a level 6+ quill now that is a rare find indeed
I think 1 charge/day would still be cool; I could make that lvl up with the characters (Artefact!) let's see, if they lvl up to lvl X in X days, a 1 charge/day is skewed to the higher lvls, (~ 2x lvl5 spell going from PC lvl9 to lvl10), although I think 10 days at the current pace would be rather long. Then again, if I get fed up with the stuff I'll just sprinkle in some concentration scrolls - they're limited in spell prep anyway
I think you've got a great idea there, Quikzilver. Only drawback I can see is that staggering charges across days might be a bother to keep track of.
Might be cool to tie the charges to the attuned character's proficiency bonus. I've done that with more than a few homebrew items to have them level up as the characters ascend the tiers. Maybe it grants 1 charge/day at a +2 prof bonus, then adds 2 charges at each prof bonus increase. That would let it scale as their spell level increases, but let them potentially scribe many lower level spells in one day if that's how you want it to work. You could also keep it at one charge per day, but the maximum spell level that can be scribed it tied to prof bonus. That would limit them to scribing one spell per day, but keep the spell level climbing as they level up.
An alternative to scrolls are magic items such as the atlas of endless horizons. An attuned caster doesn't need to scribe the spells, but can prepare them as if the item was one of their spellbooks.
As a comparison, I'm playing in a campaign running Descent into Avernus. Similar restrictions, with little downtime and precious few new spells discovered as you climb through tiers 2 and 3. We do have a wizard in our party, played by a friend of mine. In this case, our DM let him know that the campaign would have these restrictions, and he decided that would be interesting to play. He's been getting by with just the two free spells per level.
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I'm doing a little brainstorming around alternatives to the cost of copying spells into spell books, and I'm curious if anyone else has their own rules or any creative ideas.
As it stands, if I want wizards among my players to gain spells beyond the 2 per level (or anyone with the Ritual Caster feat to get more spells at all), the rules as written force me to hand out gold. Sometimes, I prefer to run campaigns where rewards are less material, or where adventurers live more hand to mouth. For any other class, I can arrange other means to meet material needs (e.g. found items, gifts from patrons, and so on). For spells, I can control when new spells are found, but there's no alternative to the 50 gp per level cost. Of course, simply eliminating the cost would solve the problem, but I do like the players to have to make choices on how to spend the resources I distribute. Hence my desire for some alternative ideas. So far, I'm considering one or more of these:
Any comments on these or any other notions?
Rather than eliminating the cost, you could cut it. Drop the value proportionately to the cut in standard gp rewards.
Impose a level or two of exhaustion for copying it, so they at least need to worry about timing when they feel safe enough.
Keep in mind that the cost for copying spells isn't like... gold coins vaporizing as they write it down. It's just the cost-equivalent of the specially treated inks and paper they need for the process, plus some money spent on materials the spell requires (although most of such resources are assumed to be included with a component pouch).
My solution would be to allow the player to simply craft this special ink themselves, so then the issue is the player needing to acquire some rare ingredients (maybe blood from specific monsters? Or crushed gemstones or even the juice of a rare berry). Something that involves seeking out and gathering resources rather than spending money in the local Fantasy Staples. I mean... maybe the Fantasy Staples is still out there, and if the player really just scrimps and saves they can get the ink that way to save themselves the hassle, but in general you can use this as a way to reward your Wizard for seeking out dangerous creatures or exploring the land as they travel.
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Oh yeah, well aware what the gold is for. Back in 3e it was 100 gp per spell level for paper and ink, so 5e is an improvement already. The wizard and ritual caster in my current party are eagerly awaiting a trip to Everlund to get their supplies.
I like the idea of harvesting from rare plants and monster carcasses. Thanks for that. Probably use Arcana checks to determine how much is harvested, with advantage granted by proficiency with herbalism kit or alchemist's tools. The more I think about solutions, the more I favour ideas that supplement the rules rather than just changing them.
Glad you liked it! I feel like you're probably gonna get your wizard asking, any time they come across something rare or interesting, whether they can use it to make more inks. Like... find a mystical spring somewhere: "Can I use the water to make ink?" Get attacked by a worm and the rest of the party is just running: "Hey, can we stop and kill this thing? I think I can make some ink out of it!"
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
The trifecta of resources are: Money, Time, & Experience.
Usually, if something costs less, then it takes more time, or requires more skill, which you've essentially covered with your initial proposals.
TransmorpherDDS' suggestion is a good one, and also applies to magic item crafting. If the players want anything specific, then sending them on a fetch quest is appropriate.
The fourth corner of the "trifecta" is Risk.
You could basically create a "Wild Magic" Wizard feat. This is a little complicated because someone is going to need to keep track of which spells are normal and which are "wild". However, this could allow a Wizard to scribe a spell on the spot in a pinch, but warrant recopying the spell later during downtime, which essentially gives you the best of both.
Perhaps the "Speed Scribing" would give a spell a 50% chance of casting normally, 40% chance of failing, and a 10% chance of backfiring.
Every corpse is a banquet!
Risk is an interesting consideration. I'll have to mull that one over.
I instituted these house rules, partially to trigger more encounter opportunities:
Straight out of the session 0 rules I presented:
Now, if you get lucky, you can MAKE your own copying materials. This will mitigate the overall cost somewhat:
Quill: Feather of a Cockatrice, Griffon, Giant Eagle, or a number of magical Feathered Creatures. (DM's Discretion)
Ink: Boiled and refined blood of a Giant Octopus, Giant Squid, Manticore, any Fey, Abberation or Dragon. There is a freshwater version of Giant Octopus found in large lakes. (DM may add more creatures.)
Assume that you need one Quill for every level of a spell. If the base 50 GP per spell level cost, the Quill is 10 GP.
The Ink makes up 15 GP of the base 50 GP cost per spell level.
So, if you make your own Ink and have the proper Quill's, you can cut your cost in half from the base cost. (Of course, if it is a spell that you can halve the copying costs already, that stacks, bringing your cost down to 25% base cost).
If you conjure a creature, you cannot harvest its parts to get ingredients. Only creatures found "in the wild" will work.
Key observation, there. Nice.
It occurs to me that, since copying your own spells only takes 1 hour and 10 gp per spell level, that you might interpret that as meaning experimentation and interpretation accounts for 1 hour and 40 gp per spell level of the total effort, since presumably copying your own spells just needs the fine inks.
Time and tide wait for no one, so here's my first draft, including the rules as written for reference. I used the DMG rules for poison extraction as a baseline.
Your Spellbook
When you find a wizard spell of 1st level or higher, you can add it to your spellbook if it is of a spell level you can prepare.
Copying a spell into your spellbook involves reproducing the basic form of the spell, then deciphering the unique system of notation used by the original author. You must practice the spell until you understand the sounds or gestures required, then transcribe it into your spellbook using your own notation.
For each level of the spell, the process takes 2 hours and costs 50 gp. The cost represents material components you expend as you experiment with the spell to master it, as well as the fine inks you need to record it. Once you have spent this time and money, you can prepare the spell just like your other spells.
You can copy a spell from your own spellbook into another book—for example, if you want to make a backup copy of your spellbook. This is just like copying a new spell into your spellbook, but faster and easier since you understand your own notation and already know how to cast the spell. You need spend only 1 hour and 10 gp for each level of the copied spell.
Spell Scrolls
A wizard spell on a spell scroll can be copied just as spells in spellbooks. When you copy a spell from a spell scroll, you 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. The check is made after you expend the necessary time and money. Whether the check succeeds or fails, the spell scroll is destroyed.
Researching Spells
If you have access to a large library of knowledge, such as might be found in a magical college or major temple dedicated to gods of magic or knowledge, you can use research to ease the process of copying spells and also acquire new spells.
You can use a library to reduce the cost for copying spells to 25 gp per spell level, but the time required increases to one 8-hour workday per spell level as your research takes the place of some experimentation.
You can also research an existing spell from the Wizard class spell list without a spellbook containing the spell. You must spend one 8-hour workday and 50 gp per spell level to research the spell, experiment, and finally scribe the spell.
Finding Your Own Supplies
It’s assumed that you acquire experimental materials and scribing inks from specialty shops and vendors who make a living off such exotic items. So where do they get these in the first place?
Harvesting
Certain creatures may contain exotic substances in their blood, bone, marrow, and other tissues that can be used in magical experimentation and the crafting of magical inks. Anyone trained in the Arcana skill can identify these substances and attempt to extract them.
The creature must be of a type other than beast or humanoid, must have been dead for less than 1 hour, and cannot have been summoned by magic. The process takes 5d6 minutes and requires a successful DC 20 Intelligence (Arcana) check. If the check succeeds, you extract 25 gp worth of materials for the copying of spells. If the check result exceeds the DC by 5 or more, you extract 50 gp worth of material. If you are proficient with alchemist’s tools, you have advantage on the check. Two people can collaborate to gain advantage, but only one check is allowed per corpse.
Foraging
Rare plants may contain exotic materials in their roots, flowers, fruit, and sap. Anyone trained in the Arcana skill can attempt find and exploit these resources.
Searching an area for rare plants and processing them requires 1d4 hours, a herbalism kit, and a successful Intelligence (Arcana) check. The DC of the check is based on the population in the area.
If you are proficient with the herbalism kit, you have advantage on the check. Two people can collaborate to gain advantage as well, but only one check is allowed per area. If the check succeeds, you acquire 25 gp worth of material that can contribute to the copying of spells. If the result exceeds the DC by 5 or more, you acquire an additional 25 gp for every 5 points by which the result exceeds the DC. This process depletes the area of materials for 2d4 x 10 days.
I like it! I think it's good that the DC to forage from enemies is so high... since you leave it open to be harvested from any non-humanoid/beast, that basically means the players will get the option to harvest from almost every combat, so it would quickly become a negligible challenge if they're basically guaranteed 25 GP of supplies after every single combat.
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Interesting. I like the Arcana requirement. I would go with Survivalism for foraging for Rare Plants, but that is really quibbling. Here is the recipe I provided our Druid for making Potions of Healing using the Herbalism Kit:
Potion of Healing Ingredients (2nd level Druid):
You can buy all the ingredients for a cost of 25 GP per Potion, though the Named Ingredients may be harder to come by, especially in certain times of the year, or location. Or, you go with a combination of spending 15 GP for General Stuff, and harvest the Named Ingredients by yourself.
15 GP of general stuff, not going to make up a list, all easily obtained, per Potion.
Named Ingredients:
The following ingredients have a total cost of 10 GP if you want to buy them, or you can acquire them yourself, and who knows what adventures that will lead to?
Slipper of the Moon: Only blooms during the 3 days before and after a fill moon, meaning a total of 7 days every lunar cycle. But it blooms year-round. For ease of game play, one lunar cycle occurs every month. The Slipper is found in forests glades, and in some areas of the grasslands, near streams and creeks.
Moss found on logs. The moss can only be stored for maximum of 3 months, so this gets tricky in late winter/ early spring.
Aloe Vera: You can grow that yourself, in your lab, year-round.
A sprinkle of holy water.
The tear of a small child, or a grandmother.
Potion of Greater Healing: Who knows yet?
As an aside, if you are not handing out gold, how are the other classes getting their gear?
Warriors need to buy better armour and weapons. Spellcasters ned to buy expensive components. All characters need to buy and maintain kits and tools. Everyone needs food and lodging. Spellcasting services cost money.
A wizard needed gold to scribe spells is no different to a fighter needing gold to buy plate armour and a cleric needing gold to buy diamonds for raise dead.
The vast majority of games revolve around currency, but there is nothing stopping a DM from saying "I will fix your armour if you escort a load of silver to my forge". The barter method was around long before currency.
First, it's not that there's no gold. It's about using player economy to set tone and atmosphere. Having enough coin to buy food, tools, basic weapons is very different than being able to spend 200 gp for a new 4th level spell whenever you like. It's also not to say that all my campaigns run this way. Sometimes I'm happy to be generous with the treasure hoards, other times PCs have to forage and hunt their own food and sleep in the rough because they can't afford an inn. Might even be within the same campaign.
There are all sorts of ways to hand out gear other than giving the PCs all the gold. I can write opportunities into the campaign unprompted or at the request of my players. Cleric wants diamonds? Forge an alliance with a dwarf clan known for mining them. Fighter wants plate armor? Gain favour with a local lord renowned for his knights. Earn a wealthy patron, make powerful allies... it all depends on how I choose to balance the needs of the campaign story with the player character stories. Or maybe diamonds are expensive and scarce, and raise dead is a rare and uncertain luxury, not at all a given. Maybe plate armor is reserved as a sign of nobility, and some peasant adventurer warrior might never get a suit, or if they do, can't show it off in public for fear of getting accused of murdering a noble knight to acquire it.
The key difference with all the other examples is that the other classes don't actually need gold; they need diamonds, plate armor, etc.. Gold is only one way to get them. The vagueness of the rules as written around wizards experimenting and buying special inks, that is to say leaving those open to interpretation, means deciding what those are and how to get them when gold is not plentiful, which is essentially what I'm doing here.
Oh, and spellcasting is never for sale in my campaigns. Magic items never are either, beyond healing potions and, maybe, spell scrolls. Magic is not a commodity.
Excellent ideas as well, Lurky. No reason my wizards can't seek patrons and alliances just as you suggest, in the same way I suggest other classes can to meet their needs in addition or in preference to the "crafting"-style options I'm going to provide.
With regards to the spellcasting services, I'm differentiating between making a living with magic vs. selling spells. In my campaigns (which are predominantly Forgotten Realms based), spellcasting is rare, exponentially more so as power level increases. The overwhelming majority of magic practitioners are the equivalent of a commoner with the Magic Initiate feat. Anything more powerful requires dedication. No god imbues a mortal with divine power so that they can sell cure wounds at 10 gp per casting. Wizards don't undertake years of arduous training and warlocks don't forge pacts with powerful beings just to hang up a shingle with a menu of spells for sale. They each have their own goals and drives, which in turn determine how they make their way in the world. So, a temple may agree to heal a party, but it's going to be in exchange for community service or other work to move forward the temple's goals. The party can find a wizard to cast teleport circle to get them cross-country, but they probably had to contact the Harpers or Arcane Brotherhood or some other network to find a wizard of such power, indebting themselves to that faction in the process as well as to the caster and their goals. None of these groups want something as mundane as money in exchange for their services. The party might find a fellow adventuring mage or priest to lend a hand, but those sorts are going to want to join in on the chance for greater riches or higher ideals (depending on the adventure), not just cast a spell for a handful of coins.
For my campaign I'm considering a Magic Quill of Scribing. The premise: the players are in a pretty low-resource environment (hostile and all that, escaping the underworld etc.) & part of the quintessential Wizard Cool is to copy spells into your spellbook. For this specific purpose I'd homebrew a magic quill to find, with X charges that let's you spend a spellslot of the lvl you want to scribe (+ destroying said scroll or spellbook when the magic transfers). What could possibly go wrong? (DM still controls the scrolls encountered)
Campaign would run 'till lvl14 (probably), I expect little downtime;
Or I could make it 'charge' 1/day (max 5?), where you'd have to spend the charges equal to the lvl of the scribed spell
Wonder how it balances 1st tier scribing vs 2nd/3rd tier scribing, but it would be an investment (wait X days) for higher lvl spells, so that's good
// Depends on how often you expect them to transcribe. And how often you want them to. With 1d4 charges you expect them to use 2 charges a day roughly, often more otherwise it would just mean it is always available / You can also do it that you need different quills for different spell levels / A level 1 quill can be a common item / But a level 6+ quill now that is a rare find indeed
I think 1 charge/day would still be cool; I could make that lvl up with the characters (Artefact!)
let's see, if they lvl up to lvl X in X days, a 1 charge/day is skewed to the higher lvls, (~ 2x lvl5 spell going from PC lvl9 to lvl10), although I think 10 days at the current pace would be rather long. Then again, if I get fed up with the stuff I'll just sprinkle in some concentration scrolls - they're limited in spell prep anyway
I think you've got a great idea there, Quikzilver. Only drawback I can see is that staggering charges across days might be a bother to keep track of.
Might be cool to tie the charges to the attuned character's proficiency bonus. I've done that with more than a few homebrew items to have them level up as the characters ascend the tiers. Maybe it grants 1 charge/day at a +2 prof bonus, then adds 2 charges at each prof bonus increase. That would let it scale as their spell level increases, but let them potentially scribe many lower level spells in one day if that's how you want it to work. You could also keep it at one charge per day, but the maximum spell level that can be scribed it tied to prof bonus. That would limit them to scribing one spell per day, but keep the spell level climbing as they level up.
An alternative to scrolls are magic items such as the atlas of endless horizons. An attuned caster doesn't need to scribe the spells, but can prepare them as if the item was one of their spellbooks.
As a comparison, I'm playing in a campaign running Descent into Avernus. Similar restrictions, with little downtime and precious few new spells discovered as you climb through tiers 2 and 3. We do have a wizard in our party, played by a friend of mine. In this case, our DM let him know that the campaign would have these restrictions, and he decided that would be interesting to play. He's been getting by with just the two free spells per level.