





This post will just be some free writing. I like to do this now and again, it isn’t edited and will probably tend to wander all over the place, but it does help me think about things that bother me. That said . . .





Wizard: by Adam Brown

Spell books in AD&D are left rather ambiguous, it is stated that all mages have them, but for the most part, they are forgotten about. The wizard gets blasted with dragon fire, forced to swim through diseased water, burgled in the middle of the night, or any number of unpleasant misadventures and his book is none the worse for wear! Of course, it has to be this way, doesn’t it. In order to function as a character, the mage must cast spells, and if we keep taking his book away it would be no fun at all. Sure, we can create a situation from time to time where a thief takes it away and he has to go get it back with only the spells that he has in his memory at that time, but this story would get old really fast if done all the time.





There are two kinds of spell books, the regular spell book, filled with every spell that that mage has collected through the years, and the traveling spell book, which is the book (or books) which a mage takes with him when he goes adventuring. Did you notice what just happened there? The rules just created a book that the wizard doesn’t have on him, so where is this book? If a mage is 3rd level, would he even have enough spells to make getting a real spell book worthwhile? When is he supposed to get this book, and where, exactly, is he supposed to keep it? This thing is a collection of his life’s work, how is he supposed to keep this thing secure in a very unsecure world?





There is another clue later on that says that at 9th level, a mage can build a tower. I think that it is safe to assume that this is when he takes a break from adventuring and constructs THE spell book. Much like the fighter, who must design his own fortress, if he wants to attract followers, and think about how to defend it from attack, the wizard has to do this as well, which sounds like a lot of fun! Of course the tower (which doesn’t really need to be a tower at all) provides him with labs and libreries so that he can begin making his own magic items, and creating spells which are unique to that wizard. Since the game is a cooperative one, the mage can opt to construct his tower in another PC’s fortress. Of course, he can do this at any time, but he won’t be able to achieve the full benefits until 9th level.





There are rules set in place for how to construct the master Spell book, so we won’t go into them here. Instead, we’ll shift our attention to the other problem . . . does a character already have his first spell book? According the rules, he does! It is part of the background of the PC as to where this book came from, thus it is up to him how he got it, maybe it was a gift, maybe it was stolen or found someplace, who knows! But the fact is, that he’s got it. It must, then, be assumed that this book has duel functions; it is both a traveling book, and a spell book. The rules define how many pages a book contains, and it is up to the DM to decide exactly what is in there. The book can already have spells in it, which the player can’t access or understand until he is of the appropriate level, these are his free spells that he gets every time he gains a level. If this is the case, and the book is already full of spells, then once he acquires a new spell, where does it go? It must go in a traveling spell book, which he doesn’t have. Again, these rules are defined. If this method of play is being used, then technically, the wizard cannot cast that spell until he has purchased a traveling spell book, which is expensive, but hey! What else is he going to spend his money on? Of course, this leads to further dilemmas; the wizard may lack the ability to properly create this book, as it is considered a magical item. Maybe he must seek help? Return to his former master, or seek the aid of a mage capable of doing this work for money or a favor, which is doable.





Now he has two books. He’s got the spell book, and a traveling spell book. All players know that this game is about misfortune, and just because an item is enchanted doesn’t mean that it isn’t subject to destruction, even a magic sword+4 must make saving throws from time to time, and eventually, it is going to lose; but we are talking about a book here! True, it does resist normal wear and tear, but the wizard who seeks adventure is always in peril, thus, his books are exposed to peril. If both of these books are destroyed, then our wizard has become a normal guy who must start collecting spells again from scratch, which would suck! I’ve never heard of anybody putting a player through that, nor even an NPC. There must be some way that the wizard is keeping these books secure, and it must be easy enough for even a first level mage to accomplish. Perhaps it is a cantrip? That would be the best way to do it, however the PHB doesn’t have a spell that can accomplish this, not to mention the fact that in order to cast a cantrip in 2nd edition, requires a spell slot, which sucks, and begs for a house rule to save the day.





A wizard can hide a single book inside of a tiny pocket universe which is only large enough for that book. Perhaps it is just a function of the Spell book that the player was given? It could be inconvenient; maybe it is only accessible once a week or once a month. This would help the wizard protect his master spell book until he can have a real library constructed. Of course the simplest answer would be that there is no pocket universe, the wizard rents a secure room from a more powerful wizard in which his equipment is secured . . . for the most part. This would make long, one way journeys impossible, or at least limit play as the wizard must maintain a residence someplace, which seems to be implied by the rules. Perhaps another solution is a return to the cantrip idea, but involves a small trunk? The wizard could rent a magic space from some big city, high magic themed store where he is given a key and can summon the trunk at will? The more money he pays, the larger the space he has available to him, and security would be the best that the famous wizard running it could provide. I really like that idea!





Now we can go back to the traveling spell book. If the mage has access to a magical vault, would he still need to carry around his traveling spell books? We can say yes, by limiting how many times he can access his magic vault, and the paranoia of having the secret word found out by a thief, he’d still prefer to keep some spells handy. These travelers books are subject to the rules provided, and while their loss would be expensive, it wouldn’t force the player or the NPC to start over from scratch. Once a new spell is added to the traveling book, at some later date, provided he has a master spell book that isn’t already filled, he can permanently add it to his collection.





Now, there is an optional rule found in the PHB in the Intelligence Ability Score table that says that there is a Maximum number of spells which a wizard can ever have in his spell book, which sounds stupid to me and makes no sense. I know why it is there, in 2e we want all of the wizards to be unique, and I don’t want to run into a world where all of the wizards are the same either, that part of it makes sense, but why couldn’t you collect every spell that you are able to capture? Perhaps this rule simulates talent? How many spells that a mage is really good at casting. A wizard is able to master only so many spells per level, the rest, he can still cast them if he chooses too, but the spell is limited. Perhaps it has a chance to misfire, or it is cast at a lower level of ability to simulate the wizards dislike or unfamiliarity with the spell? It isn’t one that he likes, and he isn’t all that good at casting it, but he can still cast it, if he needs to.





Spells in my game are acquired from different sources. Of course you’ve got the auto learned spells from your master spell book, but you can add spells to your books from captured or found scrolls as well. The third way takes a bit more work but can be a very special addition to your game, Captured Spell Books!





Oh, look at that. I’m all out of time, well; I think I know what my next project is going to be for next week. As always, this post isn’t done until you’ve had your say in the matter. How have you handled these situations? Did I get something wrong?