Cybris75
2014-02-26, 12:23 PM
Hello playground,
recently I designed an adventure involving a dangerous tome of magic spells in the hands of curious children, and found no rules to satisfy my need. I decided to create my own rules and present them here for others to use. I very much welcome feedback on this text.
Grimoires
Grimoires are a special kind of book. A grimoire can contain spells from a variety of spell lists, and the contained spells can be of arcane or divine nature. For a found grimoire, determine the nature and level of the contained spells the same way as determining the nature and level of spells found on a scroll.
Spells In A Grimoire
Spells in a grimoire are written in a very simple recipe form, usually in a language suitable for the spells it contains. Arcane spells are usually written in Draconic, Elven or Gnome, while divine spells are usually in Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal, or even Common. The written representation of the spells in a grimoire is a set of usually simple instructions that show the spell-casting process step by step, but lack the necessary background information for understanding the spell. In other words, a grimoire tells the reader how to cast a spell, but not how and why it works. Grimoires usually do not contain spells of more than third level, but exceptions exist.
Casting A Spell From A Grimoire
A grimoire enables everyone who can read to cast the spells it contains in ritual form. Deciphering the spell with read magic is not necessary. The caster must supply the necessary components for the spell, unless the components are built into the grimoire or metamagic which makes these components unnecessary was used in the creation of the grimoire. The caster must be able to read the language the spells are written in, and be able to follow the instructions, including being able to speak necessary verbal components the spell description provides.
Casting a spell from a grimoire takes a minimum of one minute per spell level and provokes attacks of opportunity. If the reader is interrupted while casting the spell, he must pass the usual concentration check, or the spell fails. For rules regarding caster level, DCs, caster and target, see the rules for potions in the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide. (A grimoire is essentially a multiple-use potion that must be read instead of quaffed.)
Casting a spell from a grimoire always requires a sacrifice as a source for the spell's power. A spellcaster can sacrifice an unused spell slot of at least the level of the spell being cast. This spellslot becomes available again as normal. A character that has a turn or rebuke ability can sacrifice one use of this ability per spell level instead, which also becomes available again as normal. If no spell slots or turn attempts are sacrificed, the reader gains a negative level and becomes fatigued. The lost level is automatically regained after 8 hours of rest, and then the character is no longer fatigued.
Grimoires, Metamagic, And Casting Without Components
Many writers of grimoires use metamagic to make the spellcasting process easier. It is common to find spells modified with the Still Spell or Eschew Materials feats applied. If a spell in a grimoire has those feats applied to them (or the spell didn't have somatic or material components in the first place), the spell can be cast by the reader even without understanding the language, as long as he is able to read the alphabet the spell is written in and reads the spell description aloud. If the Silent Spell feat was also used in the creation of the grimoire, the spell can accidentally be cast just by reading it, but this is highly dangerous and creating a grimoire in this way is frowned upon.
Learning A Spell From A Grimoire
A grimoire is not a normal spellbook, and spells from a grimoire are not as easily copied into spellbooks as spells from normal spellbooks. Essentially, the student must reverse-engineer the spell from the grimoire in a process similar to researching a new spell. Copying a spell from a grimoire takes one week and uses double the amount of inks and other materials as copying a spell from a spellbook, but takes the same number of pages in a spellbook as normal for the spell. If the student is interrupted for more than a day during this time, he must start over and the partial work and materials are wasted.
Creating A Grimoire
TODO
recently I designed an adventure involving a dangerous tome of magic spells in the hands of curious children, and found no rules to satisfy my need. I decided to create my own rules and present them here for others to use. I very much welcome feedback on this text.
Grimoires
Grimoires are a special kind of book. A grimoire can contain spells from a variety of spell lists, and the contained spells can be of arcane or divine nature. For a found grimoire, determine the nature and level of the contained spells the same way as determining the nature and level of spells found on a scroll.
Spells In A Grimoire
Spells in a grimoire are written in a very simple recipe form, usually in a language suitable for the spells it contains. Arcane spells are usually written in Draconic, Elven or Gnome, while divine spells are usually in Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal, or even Common. The written representation of the spells in a grimoire is a set of usually simple instructions that show the spell-casting process step by step, but lack the necessary background information for understanding the spell. In other words, a grimoire tells the reader how to cast a spell, but not how and why it works. Grimoires usually do not contain spells of more than third level, but exceptions exist.
Casting A Spell From A Grimoire
A grimoire enables everyone who can read to cast the spells it contains in ritual form. Deciphering the spell with read magic is not necessary. The caster must supply the necessary components for the spell, unless the components are built into the grimoire or metamagic which makes these components unnecessary was used in the creation of the grimoire. The caster must be able to read the language the spells are written in, and be able to follow the instructions, including being able to speak necessary verbal components the spell description provides.
Casting a spell from a grimoire takes a minimum of one minute per spell level and provokes attacks of opportunity. If the reader is interrupted while casting the spell, he must pass the usual concentration check, or the spell fails. For rules regarding caster level, DCs, caster and target, see the rules for potions in the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide. (A grimoire is essentially a multiple-use potion that must be read instead of quaffed.)
Casting a spell from a grimoire always requires a sacrifice as a source for the spell's power. A spellcaster can sacrifice an unused spell slot of at least the level of the spell being cast. This spellslot becomes available again as normal. A character that has a turn or rebuke ability can sacrifice one use of this ability per spell level instead, which also becomes available again as normal. If no spell slots or turn attempts are sacrificed, the reader gains a negative level and becomes fatigued. The lost level is automatically regained after 8 hours of rest, and then the character is no longer fatigued.
Grimoires, Metamagic, And Casting Without Components
Many writers of grimoires use metamagic to make the spellcasting process easier. It is common to find spells modified with the Still Spell or Eschew Materials feats applied. If a spell in a grimoire has those feats applied to them (or the spell didn't have somatic or material components in the first place), the spell can be cast by the reader even without understanding the language, as long as he is able to read the alphabet the spell is written in and reads the spell description aloud. If the Silent Spell feat was also used in the creation of the grimoire, the spell can accidentally be cast just by reading it, but this is highly dangerous and creating a grimoire in this way is frowned upon.
Learning A Spell From A Grimoire
A grimoire is not a normal spellbook, and spells from a grimoire are not as easily copied into spellbooks as spells from normal spellbooks. Essentially, the student must reverse-engineer the spell from the grimoire in a process similar to researching a new spell. Copying a spell from a grimoire takes one week and uses double the amount of inks and other materials as copying a spell from a spellbook, but takes the same number of pages in a spellbook as normal for the spell. If the student is interrupted for more than a day during this time, he must start over and the partial work and materials are wasted.
Creating A Grimoire
TODO