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View Full Version : Alternate Spell Books - Idea's



Leon
2008-02-18, 08:19 AM
Will be joing a new game soon and one of the things talked about with the DM was Wizards - now i thought i'd play one and the top moved onto Spell books, Normal "books" are not allowed and all wizards have to Specialize

Enchanter and Necromancers were sorted out quickly Tattos on Enchanted followers/Bones (Inc your Pet one from the UA Variant)

But the others we were a bit stumped at

So feel free to talk about it and suggest anything - I'll proably be playing a Conjurer (Assimar or Tiefling headed towards Malcovenker)

Mr. Friendly
2008-02-18, 08:39 AM
I've always liked the idea of having intricate knots as spellbooks. I think that was an idea in 2e and I know there is a Clive Barker story along those lines.

Armoury99
2008-02-18, 09:39 AM
Couple of ideas I've dallied with in the past:

Enormous clay tablets bearing hieroglyphics that depict the metaphysical concepts behind your spells, carried about by teams of minions. Totally impractical but certainly impressive. Many public monuments are actually formulae for appropriate spells.

http://www.rabbidforce.com/heiroglyphs.jpg

On a related and slightly more sensible note, in another homebrew world wizards required a painting depicting some act or event in their own lives which defines the spell or its effects; the greater the effect the larger and more detailed the painting.

Like this:

http://www.michaelwhelan.com/catalog/collectionpop.php?images/vlarge_goldenkey.jpg

The idea (and the image) were inspired by the novel The Golden Key (well worth a read for its approach to both art and fantasy)

Fishy
2008-02-18, 11:01 AM
Assimar/Tiefling Conjurer?

Chains.

Carry around a bunch of them under your cloak, around your shoulders, dragging on the floor by your feet. Don't let anyone see how many there are, or where they come from. Each chain ends in a collar covered with runes, or perhaps each link of every chain has a rune. When you summon a creature, either the physical chain or a ghostly replica of it runs from the creature's neck to your hand: and when the spell's duration ends, one link shatters.

Not so good for Grease, Mage Armor, Detect Magic and the like, but there you go.

MorkaisChosen
2008-02-18, 12:10 PM
"Not so good for Mage Armour", he says, as if it wouldn't be incredibly cool to see someone surrounded by rune-encrusted chains that ward off every blow that strikes towards him.

FlyMolo
2008-02-18, 12:38 PM
Assimar/Tiefling Conjurer?

Chains.

Carry around a bunch of them under your cloak, around your shoulders, dragging on the floor by your feet. Don't let anyone see how many there are, or where they come from. Each chain ends in a collar covered with runes, or perhaps each link of every chain has a rune. When you summon a creature, either the physical chain or a ghostly replica of it runs from the creature's neck to your hand: and when the spell's duration ends, one link shatters.

Not so good for Grease, Mage Armor, Detect Magic and the like, but there you go.

So Cool. This is amazing. Refluff stuff. Ghostly chains reaching out from your eyes, probing and feeling and touching! hey presto detect magic. Grease, a couple of ghostly chains writhe like snakes, tripping people. Functionally identical to grease.

mostlyharmful
2008-02-18, 02:21 PM
I've been playing around with the idea of an NPC wiz with tuning forks, variances in the length/density/alloy/??? vary the tone, have one per page and you've got a musical spellbook, you could try bells, wineglasses or sheet music for the same effect. The idea being to underline the mathematics of music and spin that into the complexity of magic. maybe even fluff that the wiz gets a cross with bard for some of their abilities and a cut back on the overpoweredness of wizard.

AKA_Bait
2008-02-18, 02:29 PM
Other options:

Charms: This functions similarly to the runes/symbols idea. Each charm, carried in a pouch (possibly the same pouch as your spell components and used a 'focus' for the spells in leau of the cheap components no one ever pays attention to anyway), is the image that must be held in the mind when the spell is cast. At the beginning of each day the forms must be secured in the mind.

Ghosts: Spells are prepared at night instead of in the morning (or very early before the sun rises). Each spell is a captured essense of a 'ghost' all of which are contained in a phylactery or bottle. When spells are prepared the ones chosen hover about the caster as an invisible mist and when discharged take form. Magic Missle for example would cause one to coalese into the form of an ancient archer. Fireball would be one werathed in ghostly flames that runs screaming to the target of the spell and explodes into real flames. And so on.

Braids: The caster carries around a satchel of human or whatever is appropriate hair/fur. This hair/fur is knotted or braided in specific ways depending upon the hair and the spell. Each morning the caster must braid their own hair into the appropriate knots. When a spell is cast, the braid comes undone.

Solo
2008-02-18, 02:33 PM
Other options:

Charms: This functions similarly to the runes/symbols idea. Each charm, carried in a pouch (possibly the same pouch as your spell components and used a 'focus' for the spells in leau of the cheap components no one ever pays attention to anyway), is the image that must be held in the mind when the spell is cast. At the beginning of each day the forms must be secured in the mind.



They're always after me lucky charms!

BRC
2008-02-18, 02:33 PM
Beads, which are crushed when the spell is cast

AKA_Bait
2008-02-18, 02:39 PM
They're always after me lucky charms!

It's the red beard in the Avatar isn't it? :smallbiggrin:

MorkaisChosen
2008-02-18, 03:32 PM
For a more tribal feel, ritual scarring...

SilverClawShift
2008-02-18, 03:47 PM
I've been playing around with the idea of an NPC wiz with tuning forks, variances in the length/density/alloy/???

My all time favorite campaign our group played (so good we played it twice with different characters) had something like this the second time around.

Our wizard was an elven enchanter, who carried their spellbook as a music box. Each spell was a metal cog with punched holes and grooves that locked into the bottom of the box. They varied in complexity and size based on the spell and the spell level.

The idea was actually our DMs. Our BBEG was a bard who cast spells the same way, only actively. It was a flavorfull way for our wizard to get new spells, rumaging through the BBEGs temporary lairs after we drove her off.

AKA_Bait
2008-02-18, 04:16 PM
For a more tribal feel, ritual scarring...

This can also work with tattoos, body paint and blood letting.

Others:

Cards: Rather than a spell book they have a deck. Each day they at dawn they draw forth a particular number of cards which they may reveal to bring the spell into effect. A little to Magic the Gathering for my taste but it could still work.

Hommunculi/Dolls: Each morning a Wizard must construct a creature from a selection of 'parts' they have acquired. The creatue sits upon their shoulder (or something similar) and when instructed can perform a spell for them. When the spell is cast, that part detaches.

Familiar: Same general concept as the above. The familiar will serve the Wizard a particular number of times per day, requested in advance. When a wizard kills another wizard the victors familiar devours that of the loser and gains its powers. The familair can also devour the remains of long dead ones to simiar effect.

Dream Shaping: Each morning a Wizard must enter a trance in which they vividly dream and create the shape and image of effects. Later in the day, the ones they have crafted they may pull forth from the realm of dreams and into reality. This one is mainly useful for evokers, conjuerers and the like.

Whittling: Wizards are collectors of tiny stone statues each of which channels power. Each time they wish to cast a spell the statue they channel through crumbles into dust, so each day at a specific hour, Wizards create a duplicate from wood or bone so as not to waste the original. These copies crumble into dust when that hour comes around again the following day. They may make additional ones from stone as if they were scribing a scroll or adding a spell to their spellbook.

Prometheus
2008-02-18, 06:35 PM
Origami
Songs or Dance Steps for a Bards
Perfumes/Incense which are released
Soups/Droughts that are finished and drunk
Arcane Equations for the mathematically inclined

How about an imaginary one for illusionists? They can see it at will and manipulate it, but not one else can unless they choose to. It's out of their head, but it still has to be accessed and searched through like anything else. Nothing could happen to it physically, but there is no hard copy if you die, have amnesia etc.

Toliudar
2008-02-18, 07:41 PM
Pipe smoke - specific tobacco's in specific states of meditation produce patterns that can be appreciated and memorized as spells.

Scents - jars of complex scents that spur on the memories of specific enchantments - especially good for illusions.

Dances - think Tai Chi or capoeira. Going through specific ritual patterns reinforces certain pathways in the caster's mind, reinforcing their ability to cast thos spells.

AslanCross
2008-02-18, 08:17 PM
The chain idea sounds particularly awesome.

-A particularly plant-obsessed conjurer could graft plants and trees into intricate patterns that resemble runes. Each school of magic would have a particular kind of tree or plant.

-Astronomical star charts. Although everyone can see the night sky, only you have the key to deciphering the codes to prepare your spells. The problem would be the changing sky.

- Sets of small metal wire figurines that display the gestures and text of a spell on command.

-A dwarf wizard might encrypt his spells into the sounds of metal being struck by hammers at a forge.

-A vast gallery of paintings and/or sculptures, each piece depicting a single spell.

Leon
2008-02-18, 08:21 PM
Cards: Rather than a spell book they have a deck. Each day they at dawn they draw forth a particular number of cards which they may reveal to bring the spell into effect. A little to Magic the Gathering for my taste but it could still work.


I had thought of a card like one - more along the lines of a Library card system.


But great idea's everyone

Collin152
2008-02-18, 08:33 PM
An intricate set of sieves, filters and holes. Water is poured in the top, and the arrangement of the plates determines the spell, based on the drip patterns and frequency, as well as location.
I don't know how it would work either, but I bet a Gnome did it.

mostlyharmful
2008-02-19, 06:10 PM
I had thought of a card like one - more along the lines of a Library card system.

Behold the ultimate power of the Dewey Decimal system. Librarians of doom unite!!!

Randel
2008-02-19, 08:44 PM
Pictures- The caster has a book or other collection of magic pictures/images/crude symbols. When they prepare their spells they draw a picture somewhere with cheap ink/paint/or chalk. When the spell is cast then the picture erases as the magic effect is created. If the picture is erased by outside forces, the spell is lost.

Puzzles- when a caster learns a new spell, they create a puzzle of some sort to reflect the spell (either a normal jigsaw puzzle or one of those 3D puzzles you have to assemble.) they solve the puzzle to prepare the spell and the puzzle crumbles apart when the spell is cast.

Food- crazy idea. Spells are recipies and the caster bakes tarts or cookies that reflect the spell.

Glass orbs- Kind of like in Labyrinth, the caster conjures up small spheres when they prepare their spells. When they cast them, the sphere vanishes. In the meantime they can juggle them around and make them disappear and reappear... just to look awesome.

Bad poetry- At the beginning of the day, they must make up some pun or poem that reflects the spell (or what they will say to the person they intend to hit with it)

Clothing- They sew patches onto their robe, scarf, hat... etc. These have symbols or runes on them. When they prepare spells, they trace the symbols and they glow until the spell is cast.

Stage magic- they keep their spells in their hat. when writing spells they take a piece of paper, scribe the spell, tear it up and put the pieces in their hat. When preparing them they take the unharmed pages out to read them.

Conspiracy nut- Instead of actively scribing their spells anywhere, they look at something that already exists and assign meaning to it. The directions for Read Magic could be seen in the lines on their hand, reading "Gary McGoo and the Great Bearbug Caper" backwards reveals the secret to casting fireballs. They cast spells normally.

Metal Discs- They have special metal discs with lines and symbols etched into the surface. Either looking like a magic circle, a two-sided token with runes on it... or maybe it has a hole in the middle and a maze etched into it where finding the path from the inner hole to the outside lets one prepare the spell. When casting, the spell shoots forth from the disk.

Fostire
2008-02-19, 09:10 PM
The chain idea sounds particularly awesome.

-Astronomical star charts. Although everyone can see the night sky, only you have the key to deciphering the codes to prepare your spells. The problem would be the changing sky.


You wouldnt need to change the sky, you could say that when you learn a new spell you learn a new way to read the sky.

Helios Sunshard
2008-02-19, 09:43 PM
The chain idea is awesome.

How about writing them on a mechanical device similar to a puzzle (think in a medallion) with lots of buttons, wich, when pressed the correct way, show an image to memorize. Spellcaster customize their own images to show the desired spell. It may work for transmuters.

Wooter
2008-02-19, 09:50 PM
Spells carved on a log. Of course, that means you'll always be hauling around a big log, but the mental image is funny to me.

Unrelated, why do people think they have to add an apostrophe when pluralizing words that end in vowels? Where do they get the idea to do that?

ZekeArgo
2008-02-19, 10:09 PM
You wouldnt need to change the sky, you could say that when you learn a new spell you learn a new way to read the sky.

Um... I think he meant how the sky naturally changes as the world orbits.

You don't see the same sky in winter as you do in summer yknow.

Admiral Squish
2008-02-19, 10:16 PM
Um... I think he meant how the sky naturally changes as the world orbits.

You don't see the same sky in winter as you do in summer yknow.

Don't forget clouds, too. A druid could just control weather you into non-existence by just giving you nightly cloud cover.

Leon
2008-02-19, 10:18 PM
Behold the ultimate power of the Dewey Decimal system. Librarians of doom unite!!!

Hmm, an Archivist with this system sounds like a idea now....


Spells carved on a log. Of course, that means you'll always be hauling around a big log, but the mental image is funny to me.


Given the world is a Homebrew based loosley on the geographical localities on medieval Europe (and beyond) - a Scottish wizard with a Caber as his spell book

The Faceless
2008-02-19, 10:45 PM
I remember a time this came up previously someone suggested a dwarf with a rifle that they would inscribe with runes. to prepare they would rub oils into the various runes, then load the material components into the barrel and fire to cast spells. could also work neatly as any other ranged weapon (good for an evoker, not so sure about a diviner...) Anyway, another suggestion.

Crystals: Arranging them in various patterns and alignments in your hands with accompanying gestures to create different effects. possibly having them orbit you like ioun stones when not in use, and for easy access.

kieza
2008-02-20, 12:25 AM
I have a very generic system that I'm toying with. Basically, there are a number of very weak spells that exist naturally. Each has a rune that uniquely identifies it and only it, but since there are thousands of runes, some look very similar. Basically, a spell in a spellbook looks like the product of a mad crossword editor, as the runes are arranged in very strange patterns to reflect the exact effect of the spell that they produce when you set a bunch of them off. For example, the combination of runes "Fire, Burst, Distance" form the core of a fireball.

Casting the spell consists of either writing and empowering the big long honking squiggle, if you're a spontaneous caster, or, for prepared casters, writing and empowering a smaller squiggle that unbalances a carefully-arranged squiggle that you made beforehand and causes a chain reaction. The spontaneous casters have less complex doodles (need a better name for these), since they don't have to balance them so carefully, but they take longer to modify (i.e. metamagic) since that involves a bunch more runes. The wizards and so on just make their pile of runes bigger when they prepare.

One of the cool things with this is that for the price of one prestidigitation spell, you can write mystical runes in midair that then glow and unleash death upon your enemies. I'm also working on variants to account for bards, such as the runes also being represented by an equivalent melody or rhythm.

Brawls
2008-02-20, 03:15 AM
Don't forget clouds, too. A druid could just control weather you into non-existence by just giving you nightly cloud cover.
Well, smilar to the mathmatical equations idea, maybe you need to map the positions of the stars to get your spells. You don't need to actually see the night sky, but to prepare you must consult star charts and know the movements throughout the comming day. Then, when you wish to cast you must align your body/draw the constellation with eldricth energy/draw a symbol on paper which is them consumed/etc.

Brawls

endoperez
2008-02-20, 04:02 AM
There are more of an NPC ideas, but:

Totem pole. Taking the log idea a bit further, we get a communal spellbook that can survive longer than the tribe who first carved it.

A huge cave full of paintings, a strange monolith engraved with runes, an enormous room whose walls have been fully engraved, etc etc could work as a center of knowledge for all the mages/magic-workers of a nation or people. Shamans who would like to learn spells their local pals don't know would get up and travel all the way to the sacred caves, study the weird marks for a while, and transform the spell into their spellbook (if it's portable), or the equivalent of a scroll (if the spellbook is a totem pole or whatever).

AslanCross
2008-02-20, 05:30 AM
There are more of an NPC ideas, but:

Totem pole. Taking the log idea a bit further, we get a communal spellbook that can survive longer than the tribe who first carved it.

A huge cave full of paintings, a strange monolith engraved with runes, an enormous room whose walls have been fully engraved, etc etc could work as a center of knowledge for all the mages/magic-workers of a nation or people. Shamans who would like to learn spells their local pals don't know would get up and travel all the way to the sacred caves, study the weird marks for a while, and transform the spell into their spellbook (if it's portable), or the equivalent of a scroll (if the spellbook is a totem pole or whatever).

My brother had a similar idea, though it seems more apt for a giant druid. (
Though they don't use spellbooks, so yeah.) A giant carries around an uprooted but magically-sustained tree. Writings are carved onto the tree's bark. The tree is alternatively used as a greatclub.

MorkaisChosen
2008-02-20, 08:42 AM
For a more technological Wizard, computer programming cards (can be fantasy computers... Anthill Inside, anyone?).

GardenKeeper
2008-02-20, 09:40 AM
My preferred RP casting was always something in line with pictographs or Tetris bricks. Innate spell casters can see magic around them, and manipulate it like flexible neon lights, and write/shape it to their needs. The educated style of casters learn to 'fudge it' and accomplish the same thing, but don't get the fluff of being able to see it around them (like a detect magic on all the time) and have to sense the subtle changes in the air.

Divine magic shows up as scripture written on the air/affected area, and arcane shows up as runes and designs.

Person_Man
2008-02-20, 09:42 AM
Food- crazy idea. Spells are recipies and the caster bakes tarts or cookies that reflect the spell.


Been playing Odin Sphere lately?

Actually, a Fireball cream pie that you throw at enemies sounds hilarious. First they have to deal with bat guano in the face, and then an explosion. It's a win/win! (For you, anyway).

Zenos
2008-02-20, 09:54 AM
Hmmm, I got an idea for a magical crystal ball which had writing in binary.

Or, for a dwarf wizard, a series of iron rods with inscribed runes which are kjept in a chain around the neck. When the wizard learns a new spell, he smiths a new iron rod.

Ashes
2008-02-20, 01:45 PM
Metal Discs- They have special metal discs with lines and symbols etched into the surface. Either looking like a magic circle, a two-sided token with runes on it... or maybe it has a hole in the middle and a maze etched into it where finding the path from the inner hole to the outside lets one prepare the spell. When casting, the spell shoots forth from the disk.

The Disc of Zerthimon.

The most awesome spellbook ever.

Telonius
2008-02-20, 02:18 PM
A book of music, for the high-charisma Wizard who always wonders what his life would have been like if he'd become a Bard instead of mucking around with bat guano.

Collin152
2008-02-20, 02:35 PM
For a more technological Wizard, computer programming cards (can be fantasy computers... Anthill Inside, anyone?).

What about an iPod spellbook? Pick your spells, jam to them, put that damn thign away let's go kill some zombies.

FatherMalkav
2008-02-21, 08:44 AM
What if as the wizard prepared a spell, it made a small 'spell imp' of force? They crawled around the wizard until they were used, at which time they jumped off and became the spell; exploded for fireball, melted down for grease, shifted into a summoned creature, etc.

Leon
2008-02-23, 10:47 AM
Lots more good idea's, although i think some are a lil bit impractical




I'll proably be playing a Conjurer (Assimar or Tiefling headed towards Malcovenker)

Definatly a Conjurer, deciding to go Gray Elf as the LA is a daunting feature for a d4 HD class and RP aspects of where the elves come from could be quite fun and less focused on the PrC - since they are looking a bit Iffy atm (Grrr)