Again, I'm not arguing game balance. I'm arguing AL needs to come out with a clear rules update.
AL doesn't need a rules update, you need to reread how "Specific trumps general" works. A specific rule, only overrides the part that it changes, so since there is no mention of gold cost in the specific, that means we use the general rule. Claiming it is 0 by omission, is bad faith, and poor understanding of how the rules work
Again I'm not arguing game balance. Check the other forums. This is a fair question that keeps coming up. And it could be easily addressed with a short clarifying update from the AL admins.
Again I'm not arguing game balance. Check the other forums. This is a fair question that keeps coming up. And it could be easily addressed with a short clarifying update from the AL admins.
AL plays by RAW.
RAW the quill does exactly what it says it does.
"The time you must spend to copy a spell into your spell book equals 2 minutes per spell level if you use the quill for the transcription."
"The quill doesn't require ink. When you write with it, it produces ink in a color of your choice on the writing surface."
Mechanically, the ONLY thing the quill does is reduce the copying time to 2 minutes/spell level.
Now look at the copying requirements in the wizard section.
"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."
Your argument is that since the quill doesn't need ink to write then the wizard shouldn't have to pay the 50gp cost BUT the rules do NOT say that.
No where does it say that the ink produced by the quill is the high quality needed to transcribe your spells. No where does it say that the quill would replace any material components needed in the experimenting phase of copying a spell. ALL it does is let you copy spells faster AND write in any color of ink you like.
Does your viewpoint make sense? Sure.
It is logical that a scribe wizard could use their quill to write down their spells using the ink it produces. BUT maybe you have to load some special ink into the pen for writing spells which costs 50gp/level. A DM could house rule a reduction in costs BUT RAW, which is what is used for AL play, does NOT have any such reduction.
There is no confusion, there is no different interpretations of RAW in this case. You are comparing the fluff text on copying a spell that gives some examples of why it costs 50gp, looking at one of the fluff abilities of the quill which doesn't need ink to write and saying "Wow - it should cost me less". Logically, I agree BUT that is NOT what the rules say. The rules are clear - copying a spell using the quill costs 2 min/spell level and 50gp/spell level .. and that is the ruling that would be used in AL.
I don't expect AL admins to address it at all but if they did they would just say that copying a spell would cost (2min+50gp)/spell level since that is what the rules actually say.
There is no chance to spend 50gp per spell level as an order of the quill copies in 2 minutes. The quill doesn't require ink. The book can be copletely reproduced in a short rest.
Again, brief blurb from wizards for clarification. I agree with you on game balance but you've got to look at both. They mixed game rules and flavor, so dont act surpriised when what should be a flavor / minor game rule update causes confusion.
There is no chance to spend 50gp per spell level as an order of the quill copies in 2 minutes. The quill doesn't require ink. The book can be copletely reproduced in a short rest.
Again, brief blurb from wizards for clarification. I agree with you on game balance but you've got to look at both. They mixed game rules and flavor, so dont act surpriised when what should be a flavor / minor game rule update causes confusion.
I completely understand where you are coming from. Does it make much sense? Not really, especially since the quill can provide its own ink.
However, the rules do NOT say that the ink provided by the quill is the correct kind to avoid incurring costs related to copying spells. Perhaps you still need to supply 50gp worth of special ingredients that you load into the pen to allow you to scribe spells. It does the copying much faster but still needs some special component that costs 50gp/level of the spell being scribed in order to copy a spell.
All the rules DO say is that copying a spell takes 2min/spell level. It would be nice if they said more but they currently don't. However, perhaps send an email to WotC support or ask on the DDAL Discord server. You might get an answer but you might also just get more folks saying that the quill only does what it says it does and what is SAYS is reduce copy time to 2min/spell level and does not mention anything in regards to the cost of copying spells.
You're looking at the quill. You have to take both the quill and spellbook into consideration.
If a wizard wanted to make a backup copy of their spell book: "You need spend only 1 hour and 10 gp for each level of the copied spell."
yet the order of the scribe book: "If necessary, you can replace the book over the course of a short rest by using your Wizardly Quill to write arcane sigils in a blank book or a magic spellbook to which you’re attuned." - no GP cost and completely eliminates the time required besides the 1 hour short rest. It doesn't matter the number or level of spells in the book.
You're looking at the quill. You have to take both the quill and spellbook into consideration.
If a wizard wanted to make a backup copy of their spell book: "You need spend only 1 hour and 10 gp for each level of the copied spell."
yet the order of the scribe book: "If necessary, you can replace the book over the course of a short rest by using your Wizardly Quill to write arcane sigils in a blank book or a magic spellbook to which you’re attuned." - no GP cost and completely eliminates the time required besides the 1 hour short rest. It doesn't matter the number or level of spells in the book.
All completely true, and all having no bearing on the cost of copying new spells in.
And for the record, I interpreted that feature as being able to write runes on the cover of the book to magically copy the contents over without physically writing a single spell. Note it even says the spells disappear from the previous book, further confirming that the ink from the first book is moved to the second.
You're looking at the quill. You have to take both the quill and spellbook into consideration.
If a wizard wanted to make a backup copy of their spell book: "You need spend only 1 hour and 10 gp for each level of the copied spell."
yet the order of the scribe book: "If necessary, you can replace the book over the course of a short rest by using your Wizardly Quill to write arcane sigils in a blank book or a magic spellbook to which you’re attuned." - no GP cost and completely eliminates the time required besides the 1 hour short rest. It doesn't matter the number or level of spells in the book.
Cool!
In that feature they specifically overwrite the gold cost associated with copying a new spellbook.
Guess what - they never mention the reduction of cost for copying spells. End of Story. Per the rules since this is a game of exceptions; A wizard requires 1 hour and 50 gp per spell level to copy a spell, however, the Scribe can reduce the time down to two minutes. So they need 2 mins and 50 gp per spell level as per the text provided. Like I said before the fact that the do not say anything about a cost doesn't mean the cost disappears, it means you us the general rule cost.
Also frankly the stuff about what you NEED the 50 gold for is fluff rules, it's pretty clear that they don't pin down a price but say that the cost of 50 covers several different items. If we were meant to take that to heart, they would have informed us that the ink cost 20 gold, the componet testing is 10, and the paper is 20 in order to allow players to justify reducing some of the costs. But since they don't itemize it, we can confer that without the need for ink, that the scribe wizard has to spend more on the other components since they are essential "working overtime" to copy the spell in 2 min/ level vs the hour a normal wizard would take.
If the previous book exists. It replaces the whole book. Its another part where they mixed game rules and flavor text and didn't specify, which is what causes the issues.
Normally copying a spellbook cost 10 GP / spell per spell level.With the quill, does that cost go down? Replacing a spell book as a whole, it would considerably decrease (blank book + 1 hour). But to just make a copy of the spell book per the TCoE rules, how long does it take and much does it cost? (TCoE states that the 2 min / spell / spell level copying time is to copy a spell into your spellbook.)
If the previous book exists. It replaces the whole book. Its another part where they mixed game rules and flavor text and didn't specify, which is what causes the issues.
Normally copying a spellbook cost 10 GP / spell per spell level.With the quill, does that cost go down? Replacing a spell book as a whole, it would considerably decrease (blank book + 1 hour). But to just make a copy of the spell book per the TCoE rules, how long does it take and much does it cost? (TCoE states that the 2 min / spell / spell level copying time is to copy a spell into your spellbook.)
Ok. If the scribe wizard wants to make a copy of their spellbook (to sell or something, since they can recover a missing book for free), it costs 10gp and 2 minutes per spell level.
Per the rules it is 10gp and 2 hours per spell per spell level because you're not copying the spell into your spellbook. You're applying logic instead of a pure reading. The copy cost and time aren't covered.
Again, a very minor rules clarification would clear all this up. But until they do, my players are copying spells into their spell books for free.
The time you must spend to copy a spell into your spellbook equals 2 minutes per spell level if you use the quill for the transcription.
Per the rules it is 10gp and 2 hours per spell per spell level because you're not copying the spell into your spellbook. You're applying logic instead of a pure reading. The copy cost and time aren't covered.
Again, a very minor rules clarification would clear all this up. But until they do, my players are copying spells into their spell books for free.
The time you must spend to copy a spell into your spellbook equals 2 minutes per spell level if you use the quill for the transcription.
You're right, I did apply logic. I logically reasoned that a copy of your spellbook is your spellbook (though it is not awakened, but that doesn't matter). Being that it is a spellbook that is yours and you are copying spells into it, the quill's effect applies.
Also the base copy rate for spells you already know is 1 hour, not 2.
You're right it is 1 hours not 2 (missed that) but a copy isn't your spellbook. Especially considering the awakened spellbook (also clearly defined as 'your spellbook') is the other half of what an order of the scribe gets at 3rd.
So it's 10gp / spell level / spell and 1 hour /spell level / spell.
Again a very simple rules clarification would clear all this up. But AL doesn't seem to want to deal with those.
You're right it is 1 hours not 2 (missed that) but a copy isn't your spellbook. Especially considering the awakened spellbook (also clearly defined as 'your spellbook') is the other half of what an order of the scribe gets at 3rd.
So it's 10gp / spell level / spell and 1 hour /spell level / spell.
Again a very simple rules clarification would clear all this up. But AL doesn't seem to want to deal with those.
How did you go from "copying spells into your spellbook should be free because it doesn't say it has the same price," to "copying your spellbook should take an hour/level because it doesn't say a copy of your spellbook is your spellbook"? (Actually, I think I see the similarity)
It is a spellbook that belongs to you. Or are you going to say that if you lose your spellbook but still have the copy that you have to spend 50gp/level to copy spells from the copy into a new spellbook? After all, you said a copy is not your spellbook, so it must follow the rules of being another wizard's spellbook (which you can't use).
Adventure League, they need some rules clarification around this. I've heard all of those arguments (and probably a few more). Complaining here as well because still no success through the facebook group.
I personally don't see it as game breaking to allow no cost addition of spells into your spellbook. From a game balance (because AL stopped giving out GP) it makes sense in AL.
Again, game balance no argument. Wording when looking at both 3rd level features of the order ofthe scribe. No ink and no additional focus needed to copy into your spellbook. Them copying to other sources isnt affected by time or cost features.
Most of these arguments become moot if you look at how the text of this ability changed from when it was considered UA playtest material to the text that made it into Tasha's Cauldron of Everything for the Wizardly Quill.
As a bonus action, you can magically create a Tiny quill in your free hand. The magic quill has the following properties:
The quill doesn’t require ink. When you write with it, it produces ink in a color of your choice on the writing surface.
The gold and time you must spend to copy a spell into your spellbook are halved if you use the quill for the transcription.
You can erase anything you write with the quill if you wave the feather over the text as a bonus action, provided the text is within 5 feet of you.
This quill disappears if you create another one or if you die.
From Tasha's Cauldron of Everything:
As a bonus action, you can magically create a Tiny quill in your free hand. The magic quill has the following properties:
The quill doesn’t require ink. When you write with it, it produces ink in a color of your choice on the writing surface.
The time you must spend to copy a spell into your spellbook equals 2 minutes per spell level if you use the quill for the transcription.
You can erase anything you write with the quill if you wave the feather over the text as a bonus action, provided the text is within 5 feet of you.
This quill disappears if you create another one or if you die.
Notice the one line that was changed from playtesting to what made it into the final version? Initially, they said the gold and time was halved. In the final version, it only mentions the time, which is reduced to 2 minutes per spell level. Someone had to make that decision to remove the word "gold" from the text, along with changing the time. It's a meaningful change and not one that would have happened without deliberate intent.
This speaks to both RAW and RAI. Gold is not explicitly mentioned(RAW) and the changes make a strong case that in playtesting, they realized the cutting the gold requirement to half across the board was a bad idea. That idea was so bad, that they completely eliminated reduced gold as a benefit(RAI).
I suspect they realized that one of the overall limitations of a Wizard is being able to amass enough gold to transcribe all of the spells. Forcing them to spend gold on spells means they can't use that gold to buy items, hire mercenaries, build fortresses, etc.
For context: to transcribe every wizard spell in the game once is about 55k gp. One duplicate spellbook costs about 20% on top of that, so another 11k gp. (NOTE: I'm rounding things off a bit and neglecting certain mechanics, like the fact that some subclasses transcribe their own spells at a 50% discount and that wizards get a total of 44 spells for free as they level up)
If you maintain the gold benefit for Order of Scribes, it only costs them 27,500 gp to transcribe every spell in the game. Additionally, they will never need a backup, which saves them another 11k. Compare that to the 66,000 gp that every other Wizard would need to spend for one book plus a single backup copy. Effectively, the Order of Scribes scores a long-term benefit of about 38,500 gp. There's a LOT you can do with that much gold and it creates a large power differential between an Order of Scribes wizard and literally every other wizard subclass.
This isn't an accident or something they overlooked. This was an intentional design decision and objectively, it's pretty clear. If you still believe otherwise, it feels like you're looking for loopholes to exploit. It just so happens that this isn't one of them.
Based on the wording in the PHB and in Order of Scribe the order when combining both the quill for the ink and the book for the material component, they eliminate the PHB requirements.
Yes I know it's nit picky, but you haven't had to deal with the group at the game store (now roll 20). My primary argument for a rules clarification either way.
The total gold for adventure league is 35360 + starting gold at level 20. Realistically the only thing anyone can do with the gold is to buy armor (fighter/paladin), buy spell components (all casters) or buy potions of healing and basic poison.
My argument to allow: It isn't game breaking for a wizard to have a large number of spells in their spell book. The game balance for them is kept like other casters. They have a preset # of spell slots per day and can still only have a certain number selected. No one seems to mind that a artificer, druid, cleric or paladin can switch out from an entire spell list every long rest. Why would it be game breaking for a wizard to have a larger spell selection?
My argument to allow: It isn't game breaking for a wizard to have a large number of spells in their spell book. The game balance for them is kept like other casters. They have a preset # of spell slots per day and can still only have a certain number selected. No one seems to mind that a artificer, druid, cleric or paladin can switch out from an entire spell list every long rest. Why would it be game breaking for a wizard to have a larger spell selection?
It probably has to with the fact that the wizard spell list 115% the size of the artificer, cleric, druid, and paladin spell lists combined and they can still perform rituals they haven't prepared.
Having to add spells to their books first to use them is a balancing factor against their sheer versatility.
Based on the wording in the PHB and in Order of Scribe the order when combining both the quill for the ink and the book for the material component, they eliminate the PHB requirements.
Everyone seems to forget that ink is only a part of the transcription cost. The cost also encompasses materials involved in the experimentation process. Even if a given spell doesn't have a material component, there may be materials involved in the experimentation process. They're just not explicitly called out and are instead lumped together under the same paragraph.
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.
This clearly states that there are two factors to the cost:
material components
inks
I hear and understand the argument that ink is free. But it doesn't explicitly say that the quill reduces the cost to zero for transcription and since those exact words about reducing the cost were removed when transitioning from UA to official, that means someone decided against that benefit.
Why would it be game breaking for a wizard to have a larger spell selection?
It's not. That's immaterial because it misses the main point. The point is that with all other things being equal, by making it zero gold to transcribe spells they have 40k gp MORE than any other wizard. By AL rules, if the limit is 35k, then while all other wizards tap out well in advance, this means that it's the ONLY subclass with the capability to transcribe every spell. Not to mention there's no opportunity for a backup spellbook in AL*. I'm not sure how that can be interpreted as fair to any other subclass.
In fact, they would have substantially more gold than most other classes which rely on obtaining items to improve their capabilities, Monks and Druids being the notable exceptions. However, I think you'd be hard pressed to say that 35k/40k gold is a meaningless difference in most campaigns, AL included.
I don't necessarily disagree with the viewpoint of those who are asking for an official clarification. But I don't think by RAW, it's terribly unclear.
* The spellbook backup in AL is probably meaningless, as they're not going to intentionally destroy a wizard's spellbook due to the repercussions. That said, I have had my own spellbook disintegrated in a Dungeon of the Mad Mage campaign and it cost me 18k gp to replace. At this point, I'm in financial debt to every other player in my party but it pushed me to create a copy, which costs 20% more.
AL doesn't need a rules update, you need to reread how "Specific trumps general" works. A specific rule, only overrides the part that it changes, so since there is no mention of gold cost in the specific, that means we use the general rule. Claiming it is 0 by omission, is bad faith, and poor understanding of how the rules work
Again I'm not arguing game balance. Check the other forums. This is a fair question that keeps coming up. And it could be easily addressed with a short clarifying update from the AL admins.
AL plays by RAW.
RAW the quill does exactly what it says it does.
"The time you must spend to copy a spell into your spell book equals 2 minutes per spell level if you use the quill for the transcription."
"The quill doesn't require ink. When you write with it, it produces ink in a color of your choice on the writing surface."
Mechanically, the ONLY thing the quill does is reduce the copying time to 2 minutes/spell level.
Now look at the copying requirements in the wizard section.
"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."
Your argument is that since the quill doesn't need ink to write then the wizard shouldn't have to pay the 50gp cost BUT the rules do NOT say that.
No where does it say that the ink produced by the quill is the high quality needed to transcribe your spells. No where does it say that the quill would replace any material components needed in the experimenting phase of copying a spell. ALL it does is let you copy spells faster AND write in any color of ink you like.
Does your viewpoint make sense? Sure.
It is logical that a scribe wizard could use their quill to write down their spells using the ink it produces. BUT maybe you have to load some special ink into the pen for writing spells which costs 50gp/level. A DM could house rule a reduction in costs BUT RAW, which is what is used for AL play, does NOT have any such reduction.
There is no confusion, there is no different interpretations of RAW in this case. You are comparing the fluff text on copying a spell that gives some examples of why it costs 50gp, looking at one of the fluff abilities of the quill which doesn't need ink to write and saying "Wow - it should cost me less". Logically, I agree BUT that is NOT what the rules say. The rules are clear - copying a spell using the quill costs 2 min/spell level and 50gp/spell level .. and that is the ruling that would be used in AL.
I don't expect AL admins to address it at all but if they did they would just say that copying a spell would cost (2min+50gp)/spell level since that is what the rules actually say.
There is no chance to spend 50gp per spell level as an order of the quill copies in 2 minutes. The quill doesn't require ink. The book can be copletely reproduced in a short rest.
Again, brief blurb from wizards for clarification. I agree with you on game balance but you've got to look at both. They mixed game rules and flavor, so dont act surpriised when what should be a flavor / minor game rule update causes confusion.
I completely understand where you are coming from. Does it make much sense? Not really, especially since the quill can provide its own ink.
However, the rules do NOT say that the ink provided by the quill is the correct kind to avoid incurring costs related to copying spells. Perhaps you still need to supply 50gp worth of special ingredients that you load into the pen to allow you to scribe spells. It does the copying much faster but still needs some special component that costs 50gp/level of the spell being scribed in order to copy a spell.
All the rules DO say is that copying a spell takes 2min/spell level. It would be nice if they said more but they currently don't. However, perhaps send an email to WotC support or ask on the DDAL Discord server. You might get an answer but you might also just get more folks saying that the quill only does what it says it does and what is SAYS is reduce copy time to 2min/spell level and does not mention anything in regards to the cost of copying spells.
You're looking at the quill. You have to take both the quill and spellbook into consideration.
If a wizard wanted to make a backup copy of their spell book: "You need spend only 1 hour and 10 gp for each level of the copied spell."
yet the order of the scribe book: "If necessary, you can replace the book over the course of a short rest by using your Wizardly Quill to write arcane sigils in a blank book or a magic spellbook to which you’re attuned." - no GP cost and completely eliminates the time required besides the 1 hour short rest. It doesn't matter the number or level of spells in the book.
All completely true, and all having no bearing on the cost of copying new spells in.
And for the record, I interpreted that feature as being able to write runes on the cover of the book to magically copy the contents over without physically writing a single spell. Note it even says the spells disappear from the previous book, further confirming that the ink from the first book is moved to the second.
Cool!
In that feature they specifically overwrite the gold cost associated with copying a new spellbook.
Guess what - they never mention the reduction of cost for copying spells. End of Story. Per the rules since this is a game of exceptions; A wizard requires 1 hour and 50 gp per spell level to copy a spell, however, the Scribe can reduce the time down to two minutes. So they need 2 mins and 50 gp per spell level as per the text provided. Like I said before the fact that the do not say anything about a cost doesn't mean the cost disappears, it means you us the general rule cost.
Also frankly the stuff about what you NEED the 50 gold for is fluff rules, it's pretty clear that they don't pin down a price but say that the cost of 50 covers several different items. If we were meant to take that to heart, they would have informed us that the ink cost 20 gold, the componet testing is 10, and the paper is 20 in order to allow players to justify reducing some of the costs. But since they don't itemize it, we can confer that without the need for ink, that the scribe wizard has to spend more on the other components since they are essential "working overtime" to copy the spell in 2 min/ level vs the hour a normal wizard would take.
If the previous book exists. It replaces the whole book. Its another part where they mixed game rules and flavor text and didn't specify, which is what causes the issues.
Normally copying a spellbook cost 10 GP / spell per spell level.With the quill, does that cost go down? Replacing a spell book as a whole, it would considerably decrease (blank book + 1 hour). But to just make a copy of the spell book per the TCoE rules, how long does it take and much does it cost? (TCoE states that the 2 min / spell / spell level copying time is to copy a spell into your spellbook.)
Ok. If the scribe wizard wants to make a copy of their spellbook (to sell or something, since they can recover a missing book for free), it costs 10gp and 2 minutes per spell level.
Per the rules it is 10gp and 2 hours per spell per spell level because you're not copying the spell into your spellbook. You're applying logic instead of a pure reading. The copy cost and time aren't covered.
Again, a very minor rules clarification would clear all this up. But until they do, my players are copying spells into their spell books for free.
You're right, I did apply logic. I logically reasoned that a copy of your spellbook is your spellbook (though it is not awakened, but that doesn't matter). Being that it is a spellbook that is yours and you are copying spells into it, the quill's effect applies.
Also the base copy rate for spells you already know is 1 hour, not 2.
You're right it is 1 hours not 2 (missed that) but a copy isn't your spellbook. Especially considering the awakened spellbook (also clearly defined as 'your spellbook') is the other half of what an order of the scribe gets at 3rd.
So it's 10gp / spell level / spell and 1 hour /spell level / spell.
Again a very simple rules clarification would clear all this up. But AL doesn't seem to want to deal with those.
How did you go from "copying spells into your spellbook should be free because it doesn't say it has the same price," to "copying your spellbook should take an hour/level because it doesn't say a copy of your spellbook is your spellbook"? (Actually, I think I see the similarity)
It is a spellbook that belongs to you. Or are you going to say that if you lose your spellbook but still have the copy that you have to spend 50gp/level to copy spells from the copy into a new spellbook? After all, you said a copy is not your spellbook, so it must follow the rules of being another wizard's spellbook (which you can't use).
Homebrew this is a minor decision for the DM.
Adventure League, they need some rules clarification around this. I've heard all of those arguments (and probably a few more). Complaining here as well because still no success through the facebook group.
I personally don't see it as game breaking to allow no cost addition of spells into your spellbook. From a game balance (because AL stopped giving out GP) it makes sense in AL.
Except the coupol says meal and not burger.
Again, game balance no argument. Wording when looking at both 3rd level features of the order ofthe scribe. No ink and no additional focus needed to copy into your spellbook. Them copying to other sources isnt affected by time or cost features.
Most of these arguments become moot if you look at how the text of this ability changed from when it was considered UA playtest material to the text that made it into Tasha's Cauldron of Everything for the Wizardly Quill.
From UA (Link to UA2020 pdf):
From Tasha's Cauldron of Everything:
Notice the one line that was changed from playtesting to what made it into the final version? Initially, they said the gold and time was halved. In the final version, it only mentions the time, which is reduced to 2 minutes per spell level. Someone had to make that decision to remove the word "gold" from the text, along with changing the time. It's a meaningful change and not one that would have happened without deliberate intent.
This speaks to both RAW and RAI. Gold is not explicitly mentioned(RAW) and the changes make a strong case that in playtesting, they realized the cutting the gold requirement to half across the board was a bad idea. That idea was so bad, that they completely eliminated reduced gold as a benefit(RAI).
I suspect they realized that one of the overall limitations of a Wizard is being able to amass enough gold to transcribe all of the spells. Forcing them to spend gold on spells means they can't use that gold to buy items, hire mercenaries, build fortresses, etc.
For context: to transcribe every wizard spell in the game once is about 55k gp. One duplicate spellbook costs about 20% on top of that, so another 11k gp. (NOTE: I'm rounding things off a bit and neglecting certain mechanics, like the fact that some subclasses transcribe their own spells at a 50% discount and that wizards get a total of 44 spells for free as they level up)
If you maintain the gold benefit for Order of Scribes, it only costs them 27,500 gp to transcribe every spell in the game. Additionally, they will never need a backup, which saves them another 11k. Compare that to the 66,000 gp that every other Wizard would need to spend for one book plus a single backup copy. Effectively, the Order of Scribes scores a long-term benefit of about 38,500 gp. There's a LOT you can do with that much gold and it creates a large power differential between an Order of Scribes wizard and literally every other wizard subclass.
This isn't an accident or something they overlooked. This was an intentional design decision and objectively, it's pretty clear. If you still believe otherwise, it feels like you're looking for loopholes to exploit. It just so happens that this isn't one of them.
Based on the wording in the PHB and in Order of Scribe the order when combining both the quill for the ink and the book for the material component, they eliminate the PHB requirements.
Yes I know it's nit picky, but you haven't had to deal with the group at the game store (now roll 20). My primary argument for a rules clarification either way.
The total gold for adventure league is 35360 + starting gold at level 20. Realistically the only thing anyone can do with the gold is to buy armor (fighter/paladin), buy spell components (all casters) or buy potions of healing and basic poison.
My argument to allow: It isn't game breaking for a wizard to have a large number of spells in their spell book. The game balance for them is kept like other casters. They have a preset # of spell slots per day and can still only have a certain number selected. No one seems to mind that a artificer, druid, cleric or paladin can switch out from an entire spell list every long rest. Why would it be game breaking for a wizard to have a larger spell selection?
It probably has to with the fact that the wizard spell list 115% the size of the artificer, cleric, druid, and paladin spell lists combined and they can still perform rituals they haven't prepared.
Having to add spells to their books first to use them is a balancing factor against their sheer versatility.
You can also buy scrolls in AL season 9/historic.
Everyone seems to forget that ink is only a part of the transcription cost. The cost also encompasses materials involved in the experimentation process. Even if a given spell doesn't have a material component, there may be materials involved in the experimentation process. They're just not explicitly called out and are instead lumped together under the same paragraph.
This clearly states that there are two factors to the cost:
I hear and understand the argument that ink is free. But it doesn't explicitly say that the quill reduces the cost to zero for transcription and since those exact words about reducing the cost were removed when transitioning from UA to official, that means someone decided against that benefit.
It's not. That's immaterial because it misses the main point. The point is that with all other things being equal, by making it zero gold to transcribe spells they have 40k gp MORE than any other wizard. By AL rules, if the limit is 35k, then while all other wizards tap out well in advance, this means that it's the ONLY subclass with the capability to transcribe every spell. Not to mention there's no opportunity for a backup spellbook in AL*. I'm not sure how that can be interpreted as fair to any other subclass.
In fact, they would have substantially more gold than most other classes which rely on obtaining items to improve their capabilities, Monks and Druids being the notable exceptions. However, I think you'd be hard pressed to say that 35k/40k gold is a meaningless difference in most campaigns, AL included.
I don't necessarily disagree with the viewpoint of those who are asking for an official clarification. But I don't think by RAW, it's terribly unclear.
* The spellbook backup in AL is probably meaningless, as they're not going to intentionally destroy a wizard's spellbook due to the repercussions. That said, I have had my own spellbook disintegrated in a Dungeon of the Mad Mage campaign and it cost me 18k gp to replace. At this point, I'm in financial debt to every other player in my party but it pushed me to create a copy, which costs 20% more.