How do I protect my spellbook from mundane damage?

[dehro]

Low level Wizard here, with enough ranks in clumsiness and a low enough AC that falling into a river, catching fire or otherwise getting "ambient damage" that could potentially damage my spellbook is a real concern.
Now..I don't have the resources for a spare spellbook and in-game reasons make it unlikely that I'll have them anytime soon, if at all. Even if I did have them, I'm not sure how I'd go about then summoning said spare book from a safe space I don't really have (if I did have one, it would most likely be several days worth of travel away from where the mission of the day sends us).
So let's say I want to focus on protecting the book I have on me from fire, water, accidental loss or maybe even random pickpockets...
Are there spells in 5th edition that help achieving this goal without making the book unmovable or difficult to reach?
How do you go about it?

Edit for clarification:
I'm not worried so much about the DM as about my fellow party members. We created our characters separately and turned out to all have rolled arcanists of some description, some less kindly disposed than others.
Also, we live in a continent ruled by formians and have to navigate a somewhat challenging society. On top of that, my rather young character is missing a substantial chunk of his memories, so he doesn't know who to trust. I'm fairly sure my DM won't try to mess with my book... Not so certain about my fellow players. This is entirely a in character paranoia, not an actual gaming strategy issue.

[BigRedJedi]

XGtE: Enduring Spellbook, common wondrous item, spellbook immune to damage from fire, immersion, and deterioration due to age.
As to protection from pickpockets and such, at really low levels, ritual cast Alarm on the book or the pack where you carry it, make it a loud, audible noise, helpful to deter would-be thieves. At 5th level+ use Glyph of Warding instead.

[Santra]

A well oiled leather case will keep the rain off. A metal one will help with fire. There are no long term magical solutions for you other than a bag of holding or a magical spellbook

[unusualsuspect]

Could a familiar bring it back with them when you temporarily dismiss them to their pocket dimension?

[lperkins2]

Could a familiar bring it back with them when you temporarily dismiss them to their pocket dimension?

Yes, so long as they don't end up leaving it there and then getting killed.

[rel]

Wrap the book in oiled cloth then stick it in a small lockable strongbox.
Cast magic mouth on the box to discourage pickpockets and put it at the bottom of your pack.

[dehro]

XGtE: Enduring Spellbook, common wondrous item, spellbook immune to damage from fire, immersion, and deterioration due to age.
As to protection from pickpockets and such, at really low levels, ritual cast Alarm on the book or the pack where you carry it, make it a loud, audible noise, helpful to deter would-be thieves. At 5th level+ use Glyph of Warding instead.
We are using core books only and any sort of magical equipment is going to be very rare.

A well oiled leather case will keep the rain off. A metal one will help with fire. There are no long term magical solutions for you other than a bag of holding or a magical spellbook
I might work on something combining these features.

Could a familiar bring it back with them when you temporarily dismiss them to their pocket dimension?
Oh .. That's clever.. I'll have to clear it with my DM.. For roleplay reasons it's not applicable now, but could become so in the near future. Good idea

[kamap]

Yes, so long as they don't end up leaving it there and then getting killed.

If your DM permits the cheese of your familiar taking things to it's pocket dimension then yes.

[BigRedJedi]

We are using core books only and any sort of magical equipment is going to be very rare.

Instead of a traditional book, do something creative with your spells, chisel them onto stones, write them on strips of dragonhide or something else suitably resistant to the basic elements, etch them into metal strips, etc. Your spellbook isn't mandated to be, specifically, a 'book' (see the "Your Spellbook" sidebar in the Wizard class description, the "Book's Appearance" subsection), so it hardly seems a stretch to encapsulate your arcane formulae onto a more durable format.

[kamap]

BigRedJedi is correct. You can have scraps of paper with your spells on stuffed in some sorth of durable container.

[Azgeroth]

Keen Mind (feat) means you only have to read your spell book once every 30 days.. so you can keep it where ever you like, you only have to read it every 30 days.

personal favourite, get a strongbox, destroy the key, cast arcane lock, and leave it with a well trusted highly respectable NPC (for added security, remember you pick a trinket at character creation? have that be some emblem or patch, and affix it to the inside of your spell book, you can now locate your book with the locate object spell.)

edit : sorry, should of explained the above better.. put the patch on the OUTSIDE of the box, not the inside, have the box lined with lead. idea being others can't divine your book, only the symbol, but you can change that much more readily than your spellbook.

then when you have need of it, or know you will have need of it, simply have it shipped to a location where you can collect, read, and re-send back.

though the familiar pocket plane trick works amazingly, your DM might decide your tiny familiar cannot hold your spell book due to size, and so cannot take it with them.. in that case, use illusory script to store your spells in a tiny tiny font, that you can read easily, thus reducing the size of your book.

otherwise, as keen mind, but trust your spellbook to another party member, like a cleric, and have it dressed as a holy tomb, thus reducing its appeal to would be thieves, on a character with high perception. you can still use the oilskin + strongbox, though if the entire box is placed in a fire, it will still burn, only it will become charcoal, instead of ash.. same result though.

[Dark Schneider]

Keen Mind (feat) means you only have to read your spell book once every 30 days.. so you can keep it where ever you like, you only have to read it every 30 days.

Wow, never though about that. An apparently low-utility feat can be great for wizards.

[Unoriginal]

Keen Mind (feat) means you only have to read your spell book once every 30 days.. so you can keep it where ever you like, you only have to read it every 30 days.


Wow, never though about that. An apparently low-utility feat can be great for wizards.


It doesn't actually work. You need the book to memorize spells, not just the memory of the book.

[Darkstar952]

Is this even a thing? I have never seen a DM do this to a player or done it to a player when I DM. Seems like a total **** move by a DM to screw over the wizard just because they got a little wet.

Only time I have ever seen a spellbook threatened in this way was through deliberate attempt by a character.

[Unoriginal]

Is this even a thing? I have never seen a DM do this to a player or done it to a player when I DM. Seems like a total **** move by a DM to screw over the wizard just because they got a little wet.

Only time I have ever seen a spellbook threatened in this way was through deliberate attempt by a character.

Maybe the DM is unaware that a Wizard's spellbook has vellum pages, and so isn't endangered by water the same way paper is?

[Azgeroth]

It doesn't actually work. You need the book to memorize spells, not just the memory of the book.

how does it not work? sorry im not trying to say your wrong, just that my interpretation is.

if you can recall anything you have seen, exactly as it was, what is the difference between recalling it from a perfect memory, and reading it in front of you??

yes, you don't physically have the book in front of you, but if you were to close your eyes, and recall reading the book, you are infact reading the book.

is this down to a mechanic/rule of you must spend x time per spell level preparing the spell from your book, as i read it, the feat explicitly allows you to remember everything you have read, so there is no real difference at least thematically, of reading the book itself, or closing your eyes and recalling from memory that exact same thing.

[XmonkTad]

I wouldn't try the keen mind trick. Crawford tweet. https://mobile.twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/664882667628855296

As for protecting your spellbook, you could just let a more durable, less accident prone member of the party hold it. The rogue wont get hit a lot, but maybe pick someone you're going to get it back from.

[Dark Schneider]

It doesn't actually work. You need the book to memorize spells, not just the memory of the book.
You can copy to a new book at low cost.

But, the spellbook cost 50 gp, and reading the spellbook rules talks about your "spellbook" can be anything, even some notes of paper. So I suppose the base spellbook can resists water and minor damages like weather. Then the endure one can also resists fire and time, severe damages in general.

[Unoriginal]

how does it not work? sorry im not trying to say your wrong, just that my interpretation is.

if you can recall anything you have seen, exactly as it was, what is the difference between recalling it from a perfect memory, and reading it in front of you??

yes, you don't physically have the book in front of you, but if you were to close your eyes, and recall reading the book, you are infact reading the book.

is this down to a mechanic/rule of you must spend x time per spell level preparing the spell from your book, as i read it, the feat explicitly allows you to remember everything you have read, so there is no real difference at least thematically, of reading the book itself, or closing your eyes and recalling from memory that exact same thing.

A spellbook is more than the information it contains. There is a reason why the spells have to be written down in expensive, exotic inks and take so long to recopy.


You can copy to a new book at low cost.

Not really. It costs just as much as doing it with the book in front of you, you just don't need the original spellbook.

[Dark Schneider]

A spellbook is more than the information it contains. There is a reason why the spells have to be written down in expensive, exotic inks and take so long to recopy.

Not really. It costs just as much as doing it with the book in front of you, you just don't need the original spellbook.
Making a copy of your own spellbook it is much more cheaper, I barely think they will don't have money for that.

About the cost, that's why I say the base spellbook using those inks can resist minor damages. Part of the cost is experimenting, that's why copying your own book is much cheaper, but the ink must be good anyway looking at the cost.

Then the base rules about the spellbook and its costs are already for the wizards to wear their spellbooks with no need for much ruling about it, if you enter in the water, if received a fireball wearing the book. Then if stolen and thrown to fire yes can be destroyed, that needs the Endure Spellbook. And maybe long life races like elves, or you revive or use clones, should make a copy to an Endure one to resist time in perfect conditions.

[sophontteks]

Spellbook pages are made of vellum. I don't know much about vellum, but it is made from animal skin. I imagine things like water and fire aren't as dangerous to paper made from animal skin then it is to paper made from wood pulp.

[WeaselGuy]

With regards to alternative spellbooks, I vote in favor of tattooing the spells onto your skin.

[Dark Schneider]

With regards to alternative spellbooks, I vote in favor of tattooing the spells onto your skin.
Reading your own butt can be difficult :D

[kamap]

Let them tattoo it backwards and use a mirror. Though having your spells tattoed on you is a good idea.

[WeaselGuy]

Reading your own butt can be difficult :D

Tattoo it in reverse, and use a mirror :P

Edit:

Let them tattoo it backwards and use a mirror. Though having your spells tattoed on you is a good idea.

Ninja'd

[Darkstar952]

Let them tattoo it backwards and use a mirror. Though having your spells tattoed on you is a good idea.

Until whatever you are fighting cuts/bites/burns/dissolves part of you, then suddenly part of your spell is missing.

[LibraryOgre]

Is this even a thing? I have never seen a DM do this to a player or done it to a player when I DM. Seems like a total **** move by a DM to screw over the wizard just because they got a little wet.

Only time I have ever seen a spellbook threatened in this way was through deliberate attempt by a character.

Why wouldn't it be a thing? If you're in a war with a wizard, targeting their spellbook is the easiest way to reduce their long-term firepower. Steal it, destroy it, whatever... in a couple weeks, you have a torchbearer.

Our solution, in the 2e games where this would happen (the DM LOVED item saving throws) was much as above... oiled and/or waxed cloth, and a metal case. As we got access to more unusual materials, we got things like dragonhide to wrap it in. You can't 100% protect it with mundane measures, but you CAN make it more difficult to destroy.

[kamap]

Until whatever you are fighting cuts/bites/burns/dissolves part of you, then suddenly part of your spell is missing.

Trough though it would be a cool way to have a spare "spellbook". Put the spells you regularly use in combat on your arms and hands for easy access.
Have your real spellbook somewhere safer, like in a chest on the cart your mule is pulling.
In a metal case wrapped in oiled leather inside your backpack.

[Darkstar952]

Why wouldn't it be a thing? If you're in a war with a wizard, targeting their spellbook is the easiest way to reduce their long-term firepower. Steal it, destroy it, whatever... in a couple weeks, you have a torchbearer.

Our solution, in the 2e games where this would happen (the DM LOVED item saving throws) was much as above... oiled and/or waxed cloth, and a metal case. As we got access to more unusual materials, we got things like dragonhide to wrap it in. You can't 100% protect it with mundane measures, but you CAN make it more difficult to destroy.

I agree that much is certainly a thing, a mages spellbook makes a great target for enemies. And as i said this is the only way I have seen it come up in game, through malicious intent of one character.

The bit I was referencing was the potential loss of a spellbook every time you are subjected to a little water or fire or just general wear and tear as part of an adventurers life, as the OP seemed to be referring to.

[Leith]

Look up Athasian spellbooks.

[HappyDaze]

Reading your own butt can be difficult :D

Not for a Tabaxi.

[HappyDaze]

Until whatever you are fighting cuts/bites/burns/dissolves part of you, then suddenly part of your spell is missing.

No kidding. Even a mid-level adventurer is likely to be heavily scarred. There's nothing about magical healing that says it flawlessly mends wounds leaving perfectly unblemished skin behind, and if it did, it would potentially remove tattoos too.

[iTreeby]

Why wouldn't it be a thing? If you're in a war with a wizard, targeting their spellbook is the easiest way to reduce their long-term firepower. Steal it, destroy it, whatever... in a couple weeks, you have a torchbearer.


My understanding is that you only need to use the so spellbook to change what spells you have memorized. Losing a spellbook also means that you lose the versatility of casting ritual spells. You don't lose the spells you have memorized though.

[denthor]

Cheap against water. Wrap in wax paper.

If you know a druid get them to make a sealant for each oage. 1% chance per page it is ruined and unreadable.

For fire lighting acid no idea.

[LibraryOgre]

The bit I was referencing was the potential loss of a spellbook every time you are subjected to a little water or fire or just general wear and tear as part of an adventurers life, as the OP seemed to be referring to.

I don't know about 5e, but in AD&D, item saving throws were a thing, and could easily strip you naked.

True story, we had a barbarian who had to go into combat in the buff because his plate armor failed a saving throw against a fireball. He had his very magical two-handed sword, his non-magical tattoos, and an angry fire elemental intent on burning his precious bits. Our Conjurer got an Armor spell on him, but it did nothing for his modesty.

[JumboWheat01]

And now we have Unarmored Defense for Barbarians encouraging them to go out in the buff. :P

Probably the best way to "protect" your spellbook is by keeping a main spellbook somewhere nice and safe, and only carrying a "traveling" spellbook along for the adventure. You can update your main spellbook when you have the time and if you happen to lose your traveling one, no big worries, you still have all your spells previously prepared prepared and can just go copy the spells into a new spellbook for traveling.

[HappyDaze]

Probably the best way to "protect" your spellbook is by keeping a main spellbook somewhere nice and safe, and only carrying a "traveling" spellbook along for the adventure. You can update your main spellbook when you have the time and if you happen to lose your traveling one, no big worries, you still have all your spells previously prepared prepared and can just go copy the spells into a new spellbook for traveling.
Unless you are playing in a world with secure banks and vaults (like Eberron), many PCs will lack a safe place to keep things stored. Lacking such a safe place, they figure (rightly or wrongly) that the items are safer on their persons. They figure that, if the game world has some symmetry, since if they are always busting into places and taking people's stuff, it can and eventually will happen to them too.

[JumboWheat01]

Fair point. Though that would seem like a great quest to me, to get your stolen spellbook back.

[DrowPiratRobrts]

I would ask your DM if it's not too late to retcon that your spellbook is engraved on thin but durable sheets of lightweight metal. With the popularity of armor in the world, it wouldn't be hard for a smith to make these sheets for a wizard in a way that wouldn't add too much weight to their pack.

If the familiar trick works that's a really clever one, but it's also risky. I'd be nervous about having my familiar in the world without getting it to bring my spellbook out with it, because I've had familiars die and it's not that uncommon. The bummer is that the times you need your familiar are typically the most dangerous times for your spellbook to be in the real world. Still a good option.

[Willie the Duck]

Is this even a thing? I have never seen a DM do this to a player or done it to a player when I DM. Seems like a total **** move by a DM to screw over the wizard just because they got a little wet.

Only time I have ever seen a spellbook threatened in this way was through deliberate attempt by a character.


Why wouldn't it be a thing? If you're in a war with a wizard, targeting their spellbook is the easiest way to reduce their long-term firepower. Steal it, destroy it, whatever... in a couple weeks, you have a torchbearer.


I don't know about 5e, but in AD&D, item saving throws were a thing, and could easily strip you naked.

True story, we had a barbarian who had to go into combat in the buff because his plate armor failed a saving throw against a fireball. He had his very magical two-handed sword, his non-magical tattoos, and an angry fire elemental intent on burning his precious bits. Our Conjurer got an Armor spell on him, but it did nothing for his modesty.

I don't know about Darkstar952, but a lot of people who instinctively shy away from spellbook destruction come from 3e. In 3e, a spellbook was an extensive investment of (WBL-gated) gold (and time spent collecting all those precious spells). Not that it wasn't in other editions, of course, but the cost of scribing scrolls, relative to expected wealth was more significant, and unlike previous editions, there was an expectation that funds spent making backup spellbooks were funds taken away from other character-build resources (magic items). A DM who routinely targeted a spellbook was seen kind of like the DM who sicked ogres with +1 adamantine heavy maces and the Improved Sunder feat at the party to pare down the martial player's magic weapons -- do it more than maybe once, and you get labeled either 1) a jerk DM, or 2) a DM who handed out too much loot and then was using impartial methods to roll back the WBL clock (neither one all that great). It lead to all sorts of discussions along the lines of:

"Well that's why sorcerers (and monks for the sundered-weapon situation) are so great."
"No they're not, they're objectively terrible! The designers screwed those classes up!"
"what do you mean? They're immune to their equipment being destroyed?
"<quick aside on how monks do need magic items> But no DM ever targets your spellbook/+5 sword"
"Why not?"
"Because it is so devastating in a game with expected WBL!"
"If they're not doing it because it's so devastating, it sounds like those classes have a pretty big Achilles heal. So how is that not a point in favor of the sorcerers/monks?"

...and so on ad infinitum.

TSR-era D&D definitely did have item saving throws, and like level-drain, there was a constant battle between those who saw it as a great way to slow down progression and keep the game in the 'fun-levels'-zone, and those who thought it was a terrible mechanic.

Regardless, I think everyone else has pretty much summed it up -- losing your spellbook is unfortunate but not crippling like it has been in other editions, by level 3 or 4 the cost of a backup book is reasonable (for most campaigns. the OP seems to be in a situation where that is not the case), and there are a few in-rules ways to defend it (including more resistant books), but the best way is to be inventive.

[HappyDaze]

I would ask your DM if it's not too late to retcon that your spellbook is engraved on thin but durable sheets of lightweight metal. With the popularity of armor in the world, it wouldn't be hard for a smith to make these sheets for a wizard in a way that wouldn't add too much weight to their pack.

Your suggestion is to basically give them all benefits with no drawbacks, and that's absurd. Those "thin sheets" would have to be pretty dense if they are going to be "durable" so the "lightweight" is right out unless you'e spending premium money for some exotic materials (which likely require specialized skills to work).

[DrowPiratRobrts]

Your suggestion is to basically give them all benefits with no drawbacks, and that's absurd. Those "thin sheets" would have to be pretty dense if they are going to be "durable" so the "lightweight" is right out unless you'e spending premium money for some exotic materials (which likely require specialized skills to work).

It's just a suggestion for the OP. I play a wizard and I chose not to go this route because it fit my character more to scribble spells in the margins of my drawings in my fashion portfolio.

As far as lightweight, durable metal goes, that's something any reasonable smith could do. I'm not saying indestructible, I'm saying "not tin foil." Plus the sheets of metal don't need to be big, just like the book of vellum or paper doesn't need to be big. It could be pocketbook sized, which means it would take a long long time to even equal the weight of some of the lightest metal armor.

Edit: And getting the benefit with the least drawbacks possible is the whole point of the OP I assume. We're not asking about balancing these things as DMs. It's a player asking about the best possible way to protect his spellbook.

Edit 2: I'm thinking something like 1/32 inch sheet metal, which is pliable but very durable. It's not going to get bent and damaged if you drop it from several feet up.

[stoutstien]

a druid who had all their spells carved into bones.
a warforged with a rolodex style spell book in their arm?
A gnome who's spell book is actually a puzzle box(Rubik's cube) ?
As a dm i make it a habit of not destroying a player spell book. a good quest reward is a custom ritual that allows them to store a backups spell book in a pocket dimension.

[HappyDaze]

It's just a suggestion for the OP. I play a wizard and I chose not to go this route because it fit my character more to scribble spells in the margins of my drawings in my fashion portfolio.

As far as lightweight, durable metal goes, that's something any reasonable smith could do. I'm not saying indestructible, I'm saying "not tin foil." Plus the sheets of metal don't need to be big, just like the book of vellum or paper doesn't need to be big. It could be pocketbook sized, which means it would take a long long time to even equal the weight of some of the lightest metal armor.

Edit: And getting the benefit with the least drawbacks possible is the whole point of the OP I assume. We're not asking about balancing these things as DMs. It's a player asking about the best possible way to protect his spellbook.

Edit 2: I'm thinking something like 1/32 inch sheet metal, which is pliable but very durable. It's not going to get bent and damaged if you drop it from several feet up.

From a quick internet search:
1/32 sheet metal is roughly 1.25 lbs. per square foot.
A 6" x 9" page is 0.375 square feet and weighs just under one-half lbs. and a "short" 50-page book is going to weigh a little over 25 lbs. with a cover.
That's fairly heavy for such a small book.

[JumboWheat01]

From a quick internet search:
1/32 sheet metal is roughly 1.25 lbs. per square foot.
A 6" x 9" page is 0.375 square feet and weighs just under one-half lbs. and a "short" 50-page book is going to weigh a little over 25 lbs. with a cover.
That's fairly heavy for such a small book.

So when you're out of spell slots, you can bludgeon enemies with your book!

[DrowPiratRobrts]

So when you're out of spell slots, you can bludgeon enemies with your book!

That's exactly right!

[Mellack]

I think spell books should be no easier to damage than any other piece of equipment. Does the archer have to worry about their bow warping into uselessness because they fell into the river? Or the string burning off when hit with a fireball? I have not seen any tables where that happens. The same way I think the wizard's book should be fine from normal adventuring. Now having thieves/saboteurs specifically target PC's equipment is a different story.

[xroads]

Many of these suggestions are great precautions. But in the end I wouldn't worry about it too much.

From my experience, DMs usually won't usually make the spell book make saving throws for much the same reason they won't usually have the fighter's armor make saving throws. Too much of that is generally a good way to lose a player.

Sometimes they might steal/destroy the spell book to move the story. But it won't usually be for very long.

[Vogie]

If you have a period where you have a lot of downtime and the resources to copy your spellbook, I'd make a copy that is significantly harder to destroy. Decorate your castle's wall with it, record it on the interior walls of your ship.


If a conjuration wizard with Keen Mind wanted to periodically read their entire spellbook, then use their Minor Conjuration feature to manifest a spare spellbook to prepare their spells daily, I'd totally let them to it. Rule of Cool, and that's pretty cool.

[KorvinStarmast]

Our solution, in the 2e games where this would happen (the DM LOVED item saving throws) was much as above... oiled and/or waxed cloth, and a metal case. As we got access to more unusual materials, we got things like dragonhide to wrap it in. You can't 100% protect it with mundane measures, but you CAN make it more difficult to destroy. Yeah, in 1e as well.
I don't know about 5e, but in AD&D, item saving throws were a thing, and could easily strip you naked. The are only a thing if you are not carrying it/wearing it as a living creature. (The idea is to make combat less fiddly ... this is one of the simplifications).

Suggestion to the OP:

Scroll tubes: each spell in a scroll tube made of bone. Sealed at each end. Tubes have one end not removable, and in that end is a metal ring. You use a chain or a larger metal ring to hold all of the tubes together. Carry it all in your back pack.

Most environmental hazards ought to be mitigated by that, though the "spell book in a metal box sealed with wax" is less complicated.

[LordEntrails]

Ask your DM what mundane damage your spellbook is susceptible to and what precautions you can take to protect it from such damage.

As a DM, I do not normally make wizard's spellbooks susceptible to mundane damage, just like the fighters sword and armor are not susceptible to mundane damage or the clerics holy symbol or etc.

[HappyDaze]

In my games, spellbooks are designed with rugged use in mind, just as cloaks, boots, and other bits of adventuring gear are made. As a DM, I don't bother to check gear for incidental damage, and directing damage at specific pieces of gear is very rare. OTOH, I do have the monsters (including people) try to steal stuff from time to time, especially from downed PCs. Cutting the straps of a backpack and pulling it off of an downed foe before running away is a very bandit-y thing to do.

[Sigreid]

The secret chest spell is a pretty good way to keep your spellbook, a spare focus and component pouch and some other basic, essential supplies reasonably protected but accessible.

[LibraryOgre]

a druid who had all their spells carved into bones.
a warforged with a rolodex style spell book in their arm?
A gnome who's spell book is actually a puzzle box(Rubik's cube) ?
As a dm i make it a habit of not destroying a player spell book. a good quest reward is a custom ritual that allows them to store a backups spell book in a pocket dimension.

There cannot be two skies. (http://torment.wikia.com/wiki/Unbroken_Circle_of_Zerthimon)

[sophontteks]

The pages are made from animal skin. That's probably a better idea then waxes and then sheets of metal. As Happydaze said I think its fair to assume these spellbooks are quite rugged and inherently resistant to the elements. Vellum is waterproof, its resistant to tearing, and it is probably a good bit less flammable then standard paper.

[Tanarii]

Make a backup. Make multiple backups. Keep them in your home base.

If you're a murderhobo, upgrade your status to murderhero by stablished get a home base to keep your crap in. Like backup spell books.


I don't know about 5e, but in AD&D, item saving throws were a thing, and could easily strip you naked.
IIRC Your character had to fail their save first. But yeah, fun times. I can't count the number of times Pcs survived a Fireball despite failing the save, but had all their flamable stuff go down in flames.

Of course, 5e sorta kinda has that (specifically fireball sets things on fire), but the default is only unattended objects. Taking all the fun out of being a DM /shakesheadsadly :smallbiggrin:

[Laserlight]

The best method for protecting your gear from casual damage is "don't have a DM who's a jerk about it." Occasional plot related theft is legit but "if it's raining when you go out, roll to Save vs Spellbook Damage" is time to find a non-adversarial DM.

[iTreeby]

If I were a dming for a wizard and had his spellbook become the target of attacks, I would never say that the spellbook is unusably destroyed, in fact that could be fun to keep track of how messed up the book becomes before they want to replace it. Now, I might have them play a gather the pages that went down river side quest or mini game if I thought that they have too much money for some reason but I would secretly only decide from the spells that they have memorized, which pages are actually in danger of being lost. Toying with the spellbook is definitely a way to add tension to an encounter but it shouldn't be done more than once without player buy in.

[Hail Tempus]

The best method for protecting your gear from casual damage is "don't have a DM who's a jerk about it." Occasional plot related theft is legit but "if it's raining when you go out, roll to Save vs Spellbook Damage" is time to find a non-adversarial DM.
I’m not aware of any rule in the DMG or PHB that allows for player equipment to be destroyed by falling into water. Or even a fireball.

A DM who goes out of his way to screw over his players like that is someone who will quickly find himself without players. And rightfully so. Preventing your players from using their class features is just a jerk move.

[dehro]

Minor clarification .. I'm not worried so much about the DM as about my fellow party members. We created our characters separately and turned out to all have rolled arcanists of some description, some less kindly disposed than others.
Also, we live in a continent ruled by formians and have to navigate a somewhat challenging society. On top of that, my rather young character is missing a substantial chunk of his memories, so he doesn't know who to trust. I'm fairly sure my DM won't try to mess with my book... Not so certain about my fellow players. This is entirely a in character paranoia, not an actual gaming strategy issue.