Waterproof Spellbook

[TigerHunter]

I'm rolling up an Aquatic Elf (MM p. 103) wizard for a campaign, but I've hit a slight snag--what should her spellbook be made of?
Paper/parchment? Wouldn't work underwater.
Stone/clay? Too bulky.
Fabric? Probably not too common under the waves.
Seaweed? Only semi-workable concept I've come up with. I'm not sure how well it would hold ink (from squid, of course), though.
What are your ideas?

[Dhavaer]

You could use the spellbook variant in Complete Arcane that lets you store spells on stones and bones and things. 1 fingerbone is equal to a page.

[Jannex]

Maybe fish-scale? Big, hand-sized scales, I mean.

[Seffbasilisk]

If a decent level, for 1K you can get your spellbook water-proofed. (Complete Arcane page 141) and just have started with bones, and ended up copying them into a waterproofed spellbook you found sunk...

[TigerHunter]

Maybe fish-scale? Big, hand-sized scales, I mean.
Hrm... that could work. Clam/oyster shells are another possibility.
I like the idea of bone, but... a page worth of writing on a single fingerbone? That's pushing Suspension of Disbelief, there.
EDIT:

If a decent level, for 1K you can get your spellbook water-proofed. (Complete Arcane page 141) and just have started with bones, and ended up copying them into a waterproofed spellbook you found sunk...
Ah, that's perfect. I don't have CA, though... could you post the little snippet on how it's done (magically?)?
Further edit: Ah, I found it online. Thank you for the suggestions, everybody!

[psychoticbarber]

Hrm... that could work. Clam/oyster shells are another possibility.
I like the idea of bone, but... a page worth of writing on a single fingerbone? That's pushing Suspension of Disbelief, there.

I'm more disturbed by the idea of finding a skeletal hand with Cloudkill inscribed on it, to be honest.

[Feralgeist]

could always tattoo yourself with spells

[Cruiser1]

In core, (Boccob's) Blessed Book (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#blessedBook) is waterproof.

[Kurald Galain]

I'd go with big seashells.

[Leush]

Out of interest, does it say anywhere in the core rules that spellbooks aren't waterproof in the first place?

[DarkLightDragon]

Make up a material that fits your needs?

[TheLogman]

Planar Handbook (3.5), page 71,

Waterproof Spellbook, 30 gp, weighs 4 lb.
Waterproof Ink, 4 gp.

However, your DM might make an exception on the cost, since you kinda need the Book to function as a Wizard.

[sikyon]

Write it on skin?

[PlatinumJester]

1 - Get club
2 - Kill baby seal
3 - Eat Seal
4 - Turn skin in to leather
5 - Write on the leather and use that instaed of parchment for your book
6 - Fight off the marauding Greenpeace gnomes.

[Kurald Galain]

6 - Fight off the marauding Greenpeace gnomes.

7. ???
8. Profit!

[Fixer]

If you really appreciate the sculpted spellbook idea, a staff can hold 9 pages worth.

My character carries copies of his favorite spells in his staves. He has 3 of them and is working on carving the 4th.

[Peregrine]

Think about it from an in-game perspective. If this culture has wizards, they obviously have some way for wizards to record their spells. They don't worry about "waterproofing", it's a given. (It'd be like us worrying about airproofing books. Which we only do for long-term archival purposes.)

It doesn't have to be too book-like, even. People have come up with a lot of good ideas for the exact flavour, but don't worry too much about the crunch. The ideal would be something that's waterproof but disintegrates when it dries out; for aquatic characters, it'd be nicely balanced by inversion with waterproofing. If you're amphibious, though, it'd be fair to have to spend a little more for something that fits both. Then spring for a Blessed Book later on. :smallsmile:

Edit: Of course, if you're the first wizard your people have ever seen... :smallwink:

[Ashtar]

Why a book? Some cultures used knotted strings as support for text. So a Quipu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quipu) made out of kelp could be a solution. One per spell. Also, why not take sea snake skins and roll them up into tight rolls as "paper". Writing on these skins is accomplished by stamping the skin to give it a specific texture. Bonus: You can now read your spellbook without available light.

Writing underwater is something that an underwater advanced civilisation must have solved... I can imagine a layering of two types of skins and etching the top layer to make the bottom one appear.

You could even have a system where they have developed shells into which they whisper the magic spells (scribing them) and when memorising, you bring the shell to your ear and hear the spell. Thus a mage would keep an arrangement of sea shells.

In short, don't stay with books where they don't make sense. Fantasy is fantasy!

[Kurald Galain]

when memorising, you bring the shell to your ear and hear the spell.

Oooh, audio books! Neat.

[Swooper]

Planar Handbook (3.5), page 71,

Waterproof Spellbook, 30 gp, weighs 4 lb.
Waterproof Ink, 4 gp.

However, your DM might make an exception on the cost, since you kinda need the Book to function as a Wizard.
Wait, how is waterproof ink half as cheap as normal ink? :o

[lukelightning]

I'd go with big seashells.

Those are hard to find; mermaids take them all to use as bikinis.