So this epic boon let's you understand the literal meaning of all writing, if a wizard has this boon and finds a spell book from some other wizard can they just use it? Since they would understand the other wizards notes?
So this epic boon let's you understand the literal meaning of all writing, if a wizard has this boon and finds a spell book from some other wizard can they just use it? Since they would understand the other wizards notes?
Not necessarily. For two reasons.
1: Spells and abilities only do what they say they do. If it doesn't say it grants benefits to a class (such as Wizards being able to use the spellbooks of other Wizards) then it doesn't do that. 2: Literal meaning doesn't mean you understand all the intricacies. For instance, if the writing uses a metaphor, they'll know the exact translation, but not necessarily what the metaphor represents if the concept is foreign to them or the metaphor is unclear. (What would it mean for a person to be a "stick in the mud" if you don't already know the idiom? Or what does it mean to be "raining cats and dogs"?)
The boon of communication gives you the literal meaning of text, here's an example of the literal transcription of real alchemy book:
Only it is needed one admits Some little fire, that it excites Inward heat, which is composed As the Infant, which reposed Is in the mother's womb warmly, As it is in our work properly. You said that we might apprehend The way how you to understand That in him is perfection, Though he cannot his Action Bring to pass in so noble form If man does not his Art conform. By Art of man, I mean science Of philosophy & prudence, Which like as the hands does prepare In separating the matter Superfluous, & put in Glass The Compound & simple earth Crass, Together with his own water. Then the vessel is shut closer In furnace proportional, With vial artificial. Other than this, man by his skill Cannot perform, say what he will.
Would that be sufficient for you to recreate the chemistry this alchemist was describing?
So this epic boon let's you understand the literal meaning of all writing, if a wizard has this boon and finds a spell book from some other wizard can they just use it? Since they would understand the other wizards notes?
Here's a thought experiment/analogy. Say you speak French, or Cantonese, or Hungarian. Any language that isn't English. You're given a text file that contains a high-level programming language (ie one that's largely human readable), something like this
public class Main { public static void main(String[] args) { String firstName = "John "; String lastName = "Doe"; String fullName = firstName + lastName; System.out.println(fullName); } }
A lot of that wouldn't make sense to you because you don't speak/read/write English, so words like "public" or "string" wouldn't mean anything.
Now say you're given the Boon of Communication. You now can understand the literal meaning of all the text. Would that grant you the ability to code? Most probably not.
Is that really accurate most wizards have both 20 int by level 19 and likely expertise in arcana +17 to arcana
If you were as smart as a human could possibly be and triple the skill of most professional programers they might?
Intelligence (and, yes, proficiency/expertise in Arcana) could be useful. But it doesn't translate to a natural reading as it would be for their own notes. If they studied the notation, maybe.
Is that really accurate most wizards have both 20 int by level 19 and likely expertise in arcana +17 to arcana
If you were as smart as a human could possibly be and triple the skill of most professional programers they might?
Just being smart doesn't mean you know stuff. You could have a person with 50x the intelligence of a normal person who lived their whole life in a forest hunting and fishing, building their own shelter, creating all kinds of innovative traps, never once encountering modern civilization. You show them that text of that code and they would have no idea what it is about, they wouldn't even know what a computer is.
Spells and abilities only do what they say they do. If it doesn't say it grants benefits to a class (such as Wizards being able to use the spellbooks of other Wizards) then it doesn't do that.
Everything else has been demonstration of how that may look from a character standpoint, but from a player standpoint, it's pretty clear.
Arguably, this falls under the Spellbook and Expanding and Replacing a Spellbook in the Wizard Spellcasting section.
Expanding and Replacing a Spellbook
The spells you add to your spellbook as you gain levels reflect your ongoing magical research, but you might find other spells during your adventures that you can add to the book. You could discover a Wizard spell on a Spell Scroll, for example, and then copy it into your spellbook.
Copying a Spell into the Book.When you find a level 1+ Wizard spell, you can copy it into your spellbook if it’s of a level you can prepare and if you have time to copy it. For each level of the spell, the transcription takes 2 hours and costs 50 GP. Afterward you can prepare the spell like the other spells in your spellbook.
Spellbook. Your wizardly apprenticeship culminated in the creation of a unique book: your spellbook. It is a Tiny object that weighs 3 pounds, contains 100 pages, and can be read only by you or someone casting Identify. You determine the book’s appearance and materials, such as a gilt-edged tome or a collection of vellum bound with twine.
Identify is a first level spell that, as a Wizard, you can cast as a ritual from your spellbook onto another Wizard's spellbook. It should be in every Wizard's spellbook and it is "free" to cast (you don't need a spell slot and does not consume the 100+ GP pearl). This then allows you to read the spellbook and copy the spells from it. Let the plagiarizing commence!
Was this your only purpose for choosing Boon of Communication?
So this epic boon let's you understand the literal meaning of all writing, if a wizard has this boon and finds a spell book from some other wizard can they just use it? Since they would understand the other wizards notes?
Not necessarily. For two reasons.
1: Spells and abilities only do what they say they do. If it doesn't say it grants benefits to a class (such as Wizards being able to use the spellbooks of other Wizards) then it doesn't do that.
2: Literal meaning doesn't mean you understand all the intricacies. For instance, if the writing uses a metaphor, they'll know the exact translation, but not necessarily what the metaphor represents if the concept is foreign to them or the metaphor is unclear. (What would it mean for a person to be a "stick in the mud" if you don't already know the idiom? Or what does it mean to be "raining cats and dogs"?)
The boon of communication gives you the literal meaning of text, here's an example of the literal transcription of real alchemy book:
Would that be sufficient for you to recreate the chemistry this alchemist was describing?
Here's a thought experiment/analogy. Say you speak French, or Cantonese, or Hungarian. Any language that isn't English. You're given a text file that contains a high-level programming language (ie one that's largely human readable), something like this
A lot of that wouldn't make sense to you because you don't speak/read/write English, so words like "public" or "string" wouldn't mean anything.
Now say you're given the Boon of Communication. You now can understand the literal meaning of all the text. Would that grant you the ability to code? Most probably not.
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Is that really accurate most wizards have both 20 int by level 19 and likely expertise in arcana +17 to arcana
If you were as smart as a human could possibly be and triple the skill of most professional programers they might?
Intelligence (and, yes, proficiency/expertise in Arcana) could be useful. But it doesn't translate to a natural reading as it would be for their own notes. If they studied the notation, maybe.
Just being smart doesn't mean you know stuff. You could have a person with 50x the intelligence of a normal person who lived their whole life in a forest hunting and fishing, building their own shelter, creating all kinds of innovative traps, never once encountering modern civilization. You show them that text of that code and they would have no idea what it is about, they wouldn't even know what a computer is.
Yes but arcana is the skill explicitly used for writing and researching magic which
Again, I will state:
Spells and abilities only do what they say they do. If it doesn't say it grants benefits to a class (such as Wizards being able to use the spellbooks of other Wizards) then it doesn't do that.
Everything else has been demonstration of how that may look from a character standpoint, but from a player standpoint, it's pretty clear.
Arguably, this falls under the Spellbook and Expanding and Replacing a Spellbook in the Wizard Spellcasting section.
Identify is a first level spell that, as a Wizard, you can cast as a ritual from your spellbook onto another Wizard's spellbook. It should be in every Wizard's spellbook and it is "free" to cast (you don't need a spell slot and does not consume the 100+ GP pearl). This then allows you to read the spellbook and copy the spells from it. Let the plagiarizing commence!
Was this your only purpose for choosing Boon of Communication?
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My houserulings.