I am new to playing a Wizard (starting in four days) and I was wondering, are there any cool flavorings for Spell books? Is there some way to carry this without just having a book in my backpack? Looking for something that would be out of the norm, and I didn't find anything in the forums. My Character race is a Drow Elf (if that makes a difference) so I didn't know how many different ways there were to have your spell book at 'the ready' or if you just kind of have to drop your back pack, pull out your dirty socks and your bedroll and ... there it is! Then cast spells.
This is just for fun flavor, and would be interested if something exists for this.
There are a few suggestions for alternate spellbooks in Xanathar's Guide to Everything. The ones that aren't spellbooks on it are leather straps with the spells written on them (which can be wrapped around a staff) and small stones inscribed with spells. Being an elf, maybe your character goes for a more permanent way to transcribe your spells. Perhaps clay tablets or ornaments for the spells, or having them etched into wood/plant dowels? Or if you have a tool proficiency, tie it to that (spells stitched into clothes for Tailor's Kit for example). Or if you want to keep close to traditional paper, but perhaps they were worried of other drow sealing all their spells, they wrote their spells down on cards, which can be kept in a box of strung together.
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The ever growing document of character concepts can never be too long, can it?
A pretty cool way I had for a Eldritch Knight I played was her tattooing the spells on her body. So she had a stylized shield on her Arm and little wings on her feet and stuff like that. Of course you'd have to talk to your DM for that with a wizard, because it is a "spellbook" you can't loose or have it stolen normally.
Another fun way I had it with a wizard was him having a mask (he never took that thing of when anybody was watching). It was a steel mask covering his whole face and on the inside his spells are etched in with acid.
Last idea I had, but didn't follow through: The wizard with the mask was kind of a Modron-Touched person , semi mechanical and summoning mechanical beasts... I thought it would have been funny to have his spells on "data discs" akin to little CDs made out of steel in binary/machine code format. But that is kind of a hard flavor to include in most Campaigns.
A spell book variation I've been tinkering with is a deck of cards like a tarot deck (or tarroka deck from curse of strahd or deck of illusions/many things). Each card represents a part or an aspect of a spell and as you learn new spells you add new cards to the deck.
When you memorise a spell you spend time laying out cards in different formations, one card for each component the spell possesses +1 card per level of the spell. For instance preparing Magic Missile would lay out a formation of 3 cards, 2 for the verbal and somatic components and 1 for the spell level. You'd then put those cards back into the deck and shuffle then deal out the next formation of cards to memorise the next spell and so on.
Anyone seeing your preparing/memorising your spells just sees you dealing cards and thinking for a second before reshuffling so it would like like you are doing a tarot reading.
You could then go a little more Gambit from the X-Men and when you cast a spell a spectral card appears in your hand and then forms the spell, so if you cast level 1 magic missile you have 3 cards appear in your hand which you throw at your target and the cards become the magic darts, if you cast fire ball a card appears wreathed ins pectral flame which you throw and it explodes, if you cast Dimension door the card appears and forms a door which you open and walk through. It should give a few nifty cosmetic effects to the spell casting.
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A spell book variation I've been tinkering with is a deck of cards like a tarot deck (or tarroka deck from curse of strahd or deck of illusions/many things). Each card represents a part or an aspect of a spell and as you learn new spells you add new cards to the deck.
When you memorize a spell you spend time laying out cards in different formations, one card for each component the spell possesses +1 card per level of the spell. For instance preparing Magic Missile would lay out a formation of 3 cards, 2 for the verbal and somatic components and 1 for the spell level. You'd then put those cards back into the deck and shuffle then deal out the next formation of cards to memorize the next spell and so on.
Anyone seeing your preparing/memorizing your spells just sees you dealing cards and thinking for a second before reshuffling so it would like like you are doing a tarot reading.
You could then go a little more Gambit from the X-Men and when you cast a spell a spectral card appears in your hand and then forms the spell, so if you cast level 1 magic missile you have 3 cards appear in your hand which you throw at your target and the cards become the magic darts, if you cast fire ball a card appears wreathed in spectral flame which you throw and it explodes, if you cast Dimension door the card appears and forms a door which you open and walk through. It should give a few nifty cosmetic effects to the spell casting.
This is an excellent idea right here. I like that. Of course, the cost of writing the spells would have to remain, and finding materials for cards instead of paper, but still - this - this is an excellent idea right here.
I enjoy coming up with flavor based upon the kind of wizard I'm playing or their backstory. For example, playing a necromancy wizard, having a spellbook wrapped in strange leather, with silver inlay and carved bone decorations. Or an evocation wizard with a spellbook made of dark paper secured between two brass plates covered in burn marks.
I also found this site that generates spellbooks and is great for ideas as both a player and DM:
I enjoy coming up with flavor based upon the kind of wizard I'm playing or their backstory. For example, playing a necromancy wizard, having a spellbook wrapped in strange leather, with silver inlay and carved bone decorations. Or an evocation wizard with a spellbook made of dark paper secured between two brass plates covered in burn marks.
I also found this site that generates spellbooks and is great for ideas as both a player and DM:
I'm not gonna lie, the donjon website has a generator for friggin everything ... this will keep me awake tonight, generating hundreds of books to find the perfect one ... thanks for taking away an hour or two of my sleep.
I enjoy coming up with flavor based upon the kind of wizard I'm playing or their backstory. For example, playing a necromancy wizard, having a spellbook wrapped in strange leather, with silver inlay and carved bone decorations. Or an evocation wizard with a spellbook made of dark paper secured between two brass plates covered in burn marks.
I also found this site that generates spellbooks and is great for ideas as both a player and DM:
I'm not gonna lie, the donjon website has a generator for friggin everything ... this will keep me awake tonight, generating hundreds of books to find the perfect one ... thanks for taking away an hour or two of my sleep.
You're not alone in that. Misery loves company after all.
Greetings All,
I am new to playing a Wizard (starting in four days) and I was wondering, are there any cool flavorings for Spell books? Is there some way to carry this without just having a book in my backpack? Looking for something that would be out of the norm, and I didn't find anything in the forums. My Character race is a Drow Elf (if that makes a difference) so I didn't know how many different ways there were to have your spell book at 'the ready' or if you just kind of have to drop your back pack, pull out your dirty socks and your bedroll and ... there it is! Then cast spells.
This is just for fun flavor, and would be interested if something exists for this.
Thank you all for your cool suggestions.
There are a few suggestions for alternate spellbooks in Xanathar's Guide to Everything. The ones that aren't spellbooks on it are leather straps with the spells written on them (which can be wrapped around a staff) and small stones inscribed with spells. Being an elf, maybe your character goes for a more permanent way to transcribe your spells. Perhaps clay tablets or ornaments for the spells, or having them etched into wood/plant dowels? Or if you have a tool proficiency, tie it to that (spells stitched into clothes for Tailor's Kit for example). Or if you want to keep close to traditional paper, but perhaps they were worried of other drow sealing all their spells, they wrote their spells down on cards, which can be kept in a box of strung together.
The ever growing document of character concepts can never be too long, can it?
A pretty cool way I had for a Eldritch Knight I played was her tattooing the spells on her body. So she had a stylized shield on her Arm and little wings on her feet and stuff like that. Of course you'd have to talk to your DM for that with a wizard, because it is a "spellbook" you can't loose or have it stolen normally.
Another fun way I had it with a wizard was him having a mask (he never took that thing of when anybody was watching). It was a steel mask covering his whole face and on the inside his spells are etched in with acid.
Last idea I had, but didn't follow through: The wizard with the mask was kind of a Modron-Touched person , semi mechanical and summoning mechanical beasts... I thought it would have been funny to have his spells on "data discs" akin to little CDs made out of steel in binary/machine code format. But that is kind of a hard flavor to include in most Campaigns.
I will have to read through Xanathar's today. Thank you for the tips. This is the kind of advice I was looking for.
A spell book variation I've been tinkering with is a deck of cards like a tarot deck (or tarroka deck from curse of strahd or deck of illusions/many things). Each card represents a part or an aspect of a spell and as you learn new spells you add new cards to the deck.
When you memorise a spell you spend time laying out cards in different formations, one card for each component the spell possesses +1 card per level of the spell. For instance preparing Magic Missile would lay out a formation of 3 cards, 2 for the verbal and somatic components and 1 for the spell level. You'd then put those cards back into the deck and shuffle then deal out the next formation of cards to memorise the next spell and so on.
Anyone seeing your preparing/memorising your spells just sees you dealing cards and thinking for a second before reshuffling so it would like like you are doing a tarot reading.
You could then go a little more Gambit from the X-Men and when you cast a spell a spectral card appears in your hand and then forms the spell, so if you cast level 1 magic missile you have 3 cards appear in your hand which you throw at your target and the cards become the magic darts, if you cast fire ball a card appears wreathed ins pectral flame which you throw and it explodes, if you cast Dimension door the card appears and forms a door which you open and walk through. It should give a few nifty cosmetic effects to the spell casting.
This is an excellent idea right here. I like that. Of course, the cost of writing the spells would have to remain, and finding materials for cards instead of paper, but still - this - this is an excellent idea right here.
I enjoy coming up with flavor based upon the kind of wizard I'm playing or their backstory. For example, playing a necromancy wizard, having a spellbook wrapped in strange leather, with silver inlay and carved bone decorations. Or an evocation wizard with a spellbook made of dark paper secured between two brass plates covered in burn marks.
I also found this site that generates spellbooks and is great for ideas as both a player and DM:
https://donjon.bin.sh/5e/random/#type=spellbook
**By the Light of the Sun, you will burn!**
Previously BENEFICENCE
DM: Storm Lord's Wrath || Syr Valor Dayne: Sleeping Gods || tooltips | guides | dice |
I'm not gonna lie, the donjon website has a generator for friggin everything ... this will keep me awake tonight, generating hundreds of books to find the perfect one ... thanks for taking away an hour or two of my sleep.
You're not alone in that. Misery loves company after all.
(I use donjon all the time for my games)
**By the Light of the Sun, you will burn!**
Previously BENEFICENCE
DM: Storm Lord's Wrath || Syr Valor Dayne: Sleeping Gods || tooltips | guides | dice |
This just inspired me to try to convince my DM in an upcoming session that my spellbook is an audiobook that I listen to to study
You can go for really cool stuff. Like a series of knots tied in a golden thread. Or how about carved into your staff in tight little curls?
There is always the spellshards from Ebberon.
P.S. Note, wizards do NOT read from their spellbooks in combat. It is something you only do after a long rest.