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View Full Version : How do you keep your spellbook safe?



Frosty
2008-04-03, 01:53 AM
Ok, so I've got a Baccob's Blessed Book. how do I keep it safe as a arcane caster in my early-mid teens? Is there any way to make it impossible to be carried away more than a certain distance away from me? Anyone way to dimensional achor it to me? As in, only way it gets teleproted anywher eis if I want to go along with it (or fail a save or some sort).

I'm not sure if staying inside a MMM each night would be safe enough.

GoodbyeSoberDay
2008-04-03, 02:01 AM
If you know, for a fact, that the DM is likely to go after your spellbook, then protect it with spell-based traps and curses, instant summons, backup spellbooks, etc. The best defense, however, is pretending it doesn't exist... plus MMM.

Xuincherguixe
2008-04-03, 02:16 AM
Theoretically, disguise it as something no one wants to see. Alter the cover, and give the implication there's really disturbing stuff in there.

A pity that D&D doesn't have an equivalent of /b/ from 4chan

Frosty
2008-04-03, 02:29 AM
Maybe I'll tie a silk rope from it to me. that way it's always attended and gets to make saves. And someone will need to cut the rope before stealing it away from me.

Hawriel
2008-04-03, 02:42 AM
why silk?

you could keep it in an extradementional pocket. creat/costome order a belt of many pockets or small bag of holding that can hold your spell book. Then word the crap out of the bag and book. There is a magical scabard that is looks like its made for a dagger or knife but you can stick a greatsword in it. I dont see why you cant have a bag thats the size of a small coin purse that can hold a very large book. Then have a back up. then afew fakes. And when your high enough level, or have enough gold, have the symbome of dead and insanity put on the first and second pages.

Sstoopidtallkid
2008-04-03, 02:46 AM
Use the stats for spellbooks made of alternate materials from CArc. Get the hardest spellbook you can. IIRC, you can get it up to hardness 18. Which, coincidentally, is the same as the max damage done by Explosive Runes. I believe you can see where I'm going with this.

Then put a Symbol of Insanity on the first page. Just in case. :smallwink:

warmachine
2008-04-03, 03:59 AM
Buy an ordinary, empty book with a lock and write a scary title and a warning on it. Put an invisible Arcane Mark on the front and back and on every page. Knock it about a bit so it looks well read. Attach a chain to the lock and your backpack. Then buy some academic textbooks that wizards tend to read and make your real spellbook look like them.

Toliudar
2008-04-03, 04:10 AM
I'll have to second GoodbyeSoberDay.

Maybe it's metagaming, but the only time I've seen a GM care about a wizard's spellbook is when the player made a big deal about protecting it. Unless you're running the kind of campaign in which there's likely to be a defection from within the group, it seems likely that any situation in which an opponent can get to your spellbook, that same opponent has gotten to you, and can take the time to search/detrap/locate object as needed. At which point the recovery of the spellbook becomes part of the same plot hook as the recovery of gear.

Now, this didn't quite work for the campaign I'm in where party walks into a bar, the bar detonates in a terrible explosion, and we all wake up naked in hell. But no amount of trapping/hiding/backups/etc was going to save the wizard on that one.

Starsinger
2008-04-03, 04:16 AM
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/secretChest.htm

Chosen_of_Vecna
2008-04-03, 04:27 AM
I would direct you to my level 12 Wizard (http://www.roguepenguin.com/castellar/profiler/view.php?id=2018) with his spellbooks. Including a BBB, and an assortment of copies created through Secret Page.

My favorite part is that he swallows his spellbook every morning after preparing spells.

Aquillion
2008-04-03, 06:09 AM
First of all, of course, like everyone else said: Don't call attention to it. If you don't think anyone is going to worry about it, you shouldn't, either... most groups don't even think about it, so you certainly don't want to be the one to bring it up.

That said, the below spells can be useful:

Secret Chest (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/secretChest.htm), as noted, can be nice... but then you have to protect the focus instead of the chest.

Instant Summons (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/instantSummons.htm) can get it back as long as it exists and no other creature has it. 1000 gp material component.

Teleport Object (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/teleportObject.htm), useful for hiding focuses to the above spells.

For simply making your spellbook hard to destroy, the 6th level Hardening spell will permanently grant it +1 hardness per 2 levels. It's in several books.

With a normal spellbook (not a blessed book), a permanent Shrink Item could be useful, making it much easier to conceal. This has the advantage that it is also common-sense for something you just want to carry around a lot. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on magic items.

Getting ways to cast your most important spells without a spellbook can be good. Even just carrying a scroll of Teleport can save your life (mastering it or getting it as an SLA is even more certain, but only worth it if you're really paranoid.)

You can always make a backup spellbook if you're really paranoid, too. This will take a lot of time and money, but better safe than sorry, right?

Arbitrarity
2008-04-03, 07:01 AM
Also, a lot of sequester (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/sequester.htm), especially if you have a permanent see invisibility, can be quite useful. With 1 day/level, it won't eat many necessary spell slots, unless you never get a break, or have a lot to hide. Mostly, it's good for hiding your umpteen billion backup spellbooks, which you hide in any location you please. Teleport object onto the ethereal plane? Good. Desert, buried under sand? Sure. A library? Prehaps. Etc.

Invisible and immune to all divination? Yay. It would be better if you had Mind Blank, but that's OK.

Extra spellbooks can be made abusing secret page, which explicitly mentions it can hide a page, and make it hold spell preparation formula.

Ascension
2008-04-03, 08:23 AM
Best way to keep your spellbook safe is to be a sorcerer. Hey, it works for me!

mostlyharmful
2008-04-03, 08:26 AM
Tatoo everything you think you really really need onto yourself, stealling a book is one thing but stealing your torso is entirely anouther.

Also, make some kind of agreement with a local wizards guild, trade in some loot or spells or whatever to make sure you can use their library if everything goes pear shaped.

SamTheCleric
2008-04-03, 08:27 AM
A pity that D&D doesn't have an equivalent of /b/ from 4chan

I dunno... Book of Vile Darkness and Book of Erotic Fantasy sum up /b/ quite nicely.

Sstoopidtallkid
2008-04-03, 08:27 AM
Honestly, talk to your DM. Ask how much he usually goes after gear. If he says "A lot", then just take this thread to heart. If he says, more-or-less, "Not at all", then just toss out a SSS, mention it once, then forget about it.

valadil
2008-04-03, 08:38 AM
I've played a lot of wizards in my day. I have not once bothered to keep my spell book safe. The way I see it is that if the DM wants to take the book away, he'll find a way. Maybe he's sadistic or maybe he just wants to see how you get by. Either way, he'll get around your protection and remove the spellbook. The rest of the time though, he doesn't care about the damn thing so what difference does it make if it's lying open or chained to your torso?

Solo
2008-04-03, 08:57 AM
Honestly, talk to your DM. Ask how much he usually goes after gear. If he says "A lot", then just take this thread to heart. If he says, more-or-less, "Not at all", then just toss out a SSS, mention it once, then forget about it.

If he says "a lot", play a sorcerer.

nargbop
2008-04-03, 09:19 AM
Play in a game where the DM doesn't take your gear.
If he wants your gear, he will get it.

nargbop
2008-04-03, 09:25 AM
Play in a game where the DM doesn't take your gear.
If he wants your gear, he will get it.

Frosty
2008-04-03, 09:26 AM
I guess I'll Sequester it. I wonder how much it'd cost to have someone Permanancy See Invisibility and Arcane Sight on me.

RS14
2008-04-03, 09:37 AM
you could keep it in an extradementional pocket.
Except the next time you wind up in an extradimensional space by mistake, your pocket goes boom and takes the spellbook with it.

Chosen_of_Vecna
2008-04-03, 10:07 AM
Except the next time you wind up in an extradimensional space by mistake, your pocket goes boom and takes the spellbook with it.

Except no it doesn't, because extra dimensional spaces overlap just fine with only one exception.

Did you even read my incredibly paranoid/awesome set up Frosty?

ryuteki
2008-04-03, 10:10 AM
The one time I played a Mercenary Mage who actually concerned himself with such things, he concealed the identity of his travelling spellbook with Secret Page, used Sepia Snake Sigil on a middle page and... I can't remember the name, there is a hypnotic rune or symbol or something which implanted the suggestion "put this book back where you found it, and forget it ever existed," on an earlier page.

Then, his main spellbooks were concealed in a fire-trapped adamantium Leomund's Secret Chest (our GM made the mistake of having an Evil Temple door made of adamantium. NEVER give such a boon to someone who has craft skills and the Fabricate spell, guys!).

He also eventually picked up Spell Mastery for a few basic spells (teleport, magic missle, mage armor, and a few others) because he WAS a paranoid git. :)

Frosty
2008-04-03, 10:49 AM
I'll read your setup when I'm not at work :p

But ot be honest, a lot of this sounds too complicated and expensive. I'm on a play-by-post, so setting all of this crap up will be really, really difficult. If the DM wants to steal my spellbook, I'll just have to adventure to get it back. That said, a few mundane precautions can't hurt. I'll have it inside my Handy Haversack. And if someone can get to my haversack after infiltrating my MMM, I'm in trouble already.

TempusCCK
2008-04-03, 11:11 AM
Arcane Mark and Magic Aura a big book, carry that around chained to you, have your spellbook hidden in your Handy Haversack.

Chronos
2008-04-03, 12:21 PM
IIRC, you can get it up to hardness 18. Which, coincidentally, is the same as the max damage done by Explosive Runes.Explosive Runes does 6d6, and the thing it's written on doesn't get a save. Which means that even an average roll will severly damage your book. Explosive Runes also doesn't have an attunement clause, so you'd have a hard time reading the book yourself (make sure you don't open it to page 274).

Randel
2008-04-03, 06:33 PM
I suppose getting a glove of storing and a tube of sovereign glue could provide a way to store your spellbook.

Or put a permanent Shrink Item on it and hand it to your familiar. Then your familiar raises its 'somebody elses problem field' and nobody is able to find it. Also convenient because if your familiar is a raven then you could argue that it can hide from whatever would try to steal your stuff and find you again if you get captured.

Oh, and I think I agree with the others when I say that if your DM wants to low blow you like that then he can... just like he can do it to anyone else.

DM: Whats this? Oh, I'm sorry wizard your spellbook got stolen.

DM: Oh cleric, your deity retired. You don't get any more spells.

DM: Hey paladin, poisoning the terrasque with Universal Solvent before it can wake up and destroy the orphanage is an evil act because you didn't read it its rights. You are now a fighter with no bonus feats.

DM: Hey druid... funny thing, due to the laws of thermodynamics wildshaping into a hawk causes your brain to shrink down to the size of a peanut therebye making you too stupid to wildshape safely... you are now horribly mutated into a cancerous pile of failing organs and ground-up bone.

DM: Oh wizard, you forgot to feed your familiar so it starved to death. You lose several levels due to XP loss.

DM: Oh, druid again... lesse here, I think right at this critical juncture I'll point out that you lose all your class features... because those coins in your pocket provide a small amount of protection against arrows that might be aimed at your hip. So they count as metal armor, and so does the iron in your blood. Lets see you take out an Ogre NOW! Hahahahhahaaa!!!

Chosen_of_Vecna
2008-04-03, 09:35 PM
Oh, and I think I agree with the others when I say that if your DM wants to low blow you like that then he can... just like he can do it to anyone else.

The point isn't to make it impossible for the DM to hose you. The point is:

1) To be realistic. You should care about your spell book.
2) To arrange it so that if you were captured, you could easily replace your spell book/keep your spellbook and escape, opening up new optiond for the DM.
3) To deal with the theoretical "Gygaxian DM" who has a since of "fair play" but is still trying to screw you. If he can't get your spellbook in a Sunder attempt, or have it fail it's save on one of your crit failures. All the better for you.

Shades of Gray
2008-04-03, 09:53 PM
Use the CaR rules and have it tattooed to your skin.

streakster
2008-04-03, 09:59 PM
Buy a copy of a giant's spellbook, animate it, and have it follow you around. Now it can kill those who try to steal it on its own, and is large enough to be a threat.

Rutee
2008-04-03, 10:14 PM
That is the most hilarious spellbook solution I've heard in a while.

Collin152
2008-04-03, 10:16 PM
I keep a spell tatooed on my eyelids. On the inside, that is.
Just look at a light.

Frosty
2008-04-03, 10:23 PM
I wonder if you can use Contingency to protect your spellbook.

Aquillion
2008-04-03, 10:49 PM
Buy a copy of a giant's spellbook, animate it, and have it follow you around. Now it can kill those who try to steal it on its own, and is large enough to be a threat.That gives me an even better idea. Unfortunately, you would need a nonmagical spellbook again (it isn't strictly clear, but I think normal ones qualify, as long as they're not Blessed Books or something.)

Have your spellbook made out of leather, and have it be very large. Then, Polymorph Any Object it into a nasty creature of roughly the same size (something made of flesh and bones). Since it should get +5 (same kingdom) and +2 (same size) at the very least, it will last an entire week. Needless to say, a creature that is hard to kill or damage would be a very good choice. Of course, if you want to have a catgirl spellbook, that could be fun too.

Make sure to bring a Dispel Magic to turn it back, of course. (Remember, you can choose to automatically succeed against your own spells.) Problem solved. You'll be spending an 8th level spell slot every day, but since you're spending it to gain a useful ally, this should be fine.

Ivius
2008-04-03, 11:00 PM
Pay a cleric to cast a Greater Glyph of Warding that plane shifts the target to the hostile plane of your choice. I prefer the Negative Energy Plane.

Parvum
2008-04-03, 11:20 PM
One of the best defences can be teaching it to run away or save it's own arse. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59895) 'Course, it's homebrew and you might already have a familiar. And some may argue that unique spellbooks wouldn't count. A few difficulties, but consider. The finished one is on the second page.