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View Full Version : whats the going rate for a spellbook?



big teej
2010-10-20, 10:18 PM
to sell, that is...

for instance, lets say a party with no arcane casters stuffs an evil wizard full of sharp metal objects and want to sell his spellbook....


how much should said spellbook be worth?
is there a formula for said sale?

please thankyou

Apophis
2010-10-20, 10:28 PM
Well, according to the 3.5 PHB,

Selling a Spellbook
Captured spellbooks can be sold for a gp amount equal to one-half
the cost of purchasing and inscribing the spells within (that is, onehalf
of 100 gp per page of spells). A spellbook entirely filled with
spells (that is, with one hundred pages of spells inscribed in it) is
worth 5,000 gp.

Valameer
2010-10-20, 10:28 PM
I think it's worth 50 gold per page filled. So, up to 5000 gold if it's filled.

EDIT: Ninja'd

Force
2010-10-20, 10:29 PM
Selling a Spellbook

Captured spellbooks can be sold for a gp amount equal to one-half the cost of purchasing and inscribing the spells within (that is, one-half of 100 gp per page of spells). A spellbook entirely filled with spells (that is, with one hundred pages of spells inscribed in it) is worth 5,000 gp.

As the SRD says.

Tvtyrant
2010-10-20, 10:30 PM
More if the caster is a geometer and can put more spells in the book.

PopcornMage
2010-10-20, 10:32 PM
Note: Finding the potential buyer does not have to be automatic. And they can bargain it down.

"What, you want me to pay for that spell, I already know it!!"

Coidzor
2010-10-20, 10:42 PM
Note: Finding the potential buyer does not have to be automatic. And they can bargain it down.

"What, you want me to pay for that spell, I already know it!!"

Eh, they save on the full expense of having to inscribe it a second time. If they just want one or two spells, there's a price for buying the spell without the spellbook (which is in addition to the cost it costs them to inscribe the spell into their spellbook)

So gold value wise, 50 * spell level + 100 * spell level (buying the right to copy the spell and the materials necessary to copy the spell and 0th level spells count as 1) > 50 * spell level.

And it allows them to have a backup spellbook, especially with the rules for attuning a spellbook so that it no longer counts as borrowed in Complete Arcane. And the monetary expenditure is the same as if they duplicated an equivalent number of spell levels into a new spellbook but with much less time necessary and new spells being added into their repetoire as well.


Spells Copied from Another’s Spellbook or a Scroll

A wizard can also add a spell to her book whenever she encounters one on a magic scroll or in another wizard’s spellbook. No matter what the spell’s source, the wizard must first decipher the magical writing (see Arcane Magical Writings, above). Next, she must spend a day studying the spell. At the end of the day, she must make a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell’s level). A wizard who has specialized in a school of spells gains a +2 bonus on the Spellcraft check if the new spell is from her specialty school. She cannot, however, learn any spells from her prohibited schools. If the check succeeds, the wizard understands the spell and can copy it into her spellbook (see Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook, below). The process leaves a spellbook that was copied from unharmed, but a spell successfully copied from a magic scroll disappears from the parchment.

If the check fails, the wizard cannot understand or copy the spell. She cannot attempt to learn or copy that spell again until she gains another rank in Spellcraft. A spell that was being copied from a scroll does not vanish from the scroll.

In most cases, wizards charge a fee for the privilege of copying spells from their spellbooks. This fee is usually equal to the spell’s level × 50 gp.
Independent Research

A wizard also can research a spell independently, duplicating an existing spell or creating an entirely new one.



Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook

Once a wizard understands a new spell, she can record it into her spellbook.
Time

The process takes 24 hours, regardless of the spell’s level.
Space in the Spellbook

A spell takes up one page of the spellbook per spell level. Even a 0-level spell (cantrip) takes one page. A spellbook has one hundred pages.
Materials and Costs

Materials for writing the spell cost 100 gp per page.

Note that a wizard does not have to pay these costs in time or gold for the spells she gains for free at each new level.


Replacing and Copying Spellbooks

A wizard can use the procedure for learning a spell to reconstruct a lost spellbook. If she already has a particular spell prepared, she can write it directly into a new book at a cost of 100 gp per page (as noted in Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook, above). The process wipes the prepared spell from her mind, just as casting it would. If she does not have the spell prepared, she can prepare it from a borrowed spellbook and then write it into a new book.

Duplicating an existing spellbook uses the same procedure as replacing it, but the task is much easier. The time requirement and cost per page are halved. [100/2 = 50 per page or 50 per spell level]

PopcornMage
2010-10-20, 11:28 PM
Feel free to make that argument to the local wizard!

big teej
2010-10-21, 08:20 AM
so 5,000 for a full spellbook

or 50*spell level

is this correct?


thanks everybody

Dr.Epic
2010-10-21, 08:23 AM
Depends on the number of spells in it and what level they are. Not to mention the buyer could have favor over certain spells as well as other factors.

big teej
2010-10-21, 08:26 AM
but the going rate....


is 50gp times spell level right?

Marnath
2010-10-21, 09:26 PM
More if the caster is a geometer and can put more spells in the book.

In theory though, you'd sell it for more but you'd have a way harder time finding a wizard who could even use it, since I doubt it would be useful for a non geometer.

Lhurgyof
2010-10-21, 09:33 PM
but the going rate....


is 50gp times spell level right?

50gp per page, and since a spell takes up a page per level, yes.

Iku Rex
2010-10-21, 09:36 PM
^ It's half the cost of scribing it.

Psyren
2010-10-21, 09:40 PM
In theory though, you'd sell it for more but you'd have a way harder time finding a wizard who could even use it, since I doubt it would be useful for a non geometer.

It is indeed harder (but not impossible) for a non-Geometer to read a Geometer's book. (It adds 5 to the Spellcraft DC.)