Minor RP Matter: Alternative spellbook page representation

[NegInfinity]

Am I allowed to RP that spells in my spellbook are represented in unusual manner?
As far as I can see it shouldn't really affect anyone?

I mean something along the lines of geometer class. (Someone on the interenet mentioned that wild mages might have something truly weird in spellbook, like fractal plasma, but I was unable to find sources that support that)

I have a rogue/shadowdancer/wizard/arcane trickster, which is very "weird". Character barely speaks, quiet, and at the same time fascinated with opening locks and collecting spells.

However... I already use 4 classes, there is no "geometer" prc on the server, and one of the rules is "roleplay your sheet".

So, is that allowed or not?

[DM Eminence]

Not many RP out a spellbook - the greatest weakness of the wizard. Without it, he is nothing.

(Maybe a tad bit dramatic)


You can't RP a class that you don't have on your character sheet. If you're only asking to try and save some space in your spellbook, I'd say don't bother to count the pages. If the space issue still bothers you, RP having more spellbooks. Perhaps some that your wizard leaves in secret locations or even on the bookshelf at their home. Or puts in that magical bag of holding every character seems to have.

Some DMs in PnP will count every arrow, every bolt and list inventory down meticulously down to the last piece of flint and require wizards to not go past their 100 pages per spellbook. Others wave it away and are less nit-picky.

[ohboy007]

Thank god I have a sorcerer...

[NegInfinity]

Not many RP out a spellbook - the greatest weakness of the wizard. Without it, he is nothing.

(Maybe a tad bit dramatic)


You can't RP a class that you don't have on your character sheet. If you're only asking to try and save some space in your spellbook, I'd say don't bother to count the pages. If the space issue still bothers you, RP having more spellbooks. Perhaps some that your wizard leaves in secret locations or even on the bookshelf at their home. Or puts in that magical bag of holding every character seems to have.

Some DMs in PnP will count every arrow, every bolt and list inventory down meticulously down to the last piece of flint and require wizards to not go past their 100 pages per spellbook. Others wave it away and are less nit-picky.

Wasn't a matter of pages, but a matter of representation. According to complete arcane, spellbook can be anything. Wizards can tatoo their spells on their skin, use statues, structures and tokens to store spell knowledge. (complete arcane page 186). You can also

The question was would it be allowed to have extremely unusual representation of spells in spellbooks (incomprehensible doodles, for example). Assuming anyone would ever try to peek into it. (Extremely low probability of that happening)

Although most folks think of them as thick, heavy tomes of
parchment or vellum pages bound with ornate covers and
heavy locks, a wizard’s spellbooks can take almost any form. A
spellbook can be made from belts of linked metal plates that
serve as pages, scribed on thin sheets of ivory, or disguised
by magic to look like a shield, gaming board, lute, or almost
any other mundane item of equivalent size.

[DM Eminence]

Thought I replied already...

As long as the representation is kept sensible there shouldn't be any issues. No unique advantages, special abilities and so forth. For all purposes, it should function as a regular spellbook except that it's in a different shape.

[DM Eurydice]

Keep in mind that the item you wish to scribe the spells on, should be able to contain them. In a normal spellbook, each spell fills one page, per spell level. So a ninth level spell is nine pages worth of text, arcane symbols and runes etc.

So you can't just use a dinner plate, and say you've scribbled down 245 spells worth on it.

I believe that's the reason most wizards would pick a thick book, much easier to dragging along than enough dinner plates to comfortably invite half of Baldur's Gate over for supper

[NegInfinity]

So you can't just use a dinner plate, and say you've scribbled down 245 spells worth on it.

You actually can do that. (page 139, complete arcane)

Although most folks think of them as thick, heavy tomes of
parchment or vellum pages bound with ornate covers and
heavy locks, a wizard’s spellbooks can take almost any form. A
spellbook can be made from belts of linked metal plates that
serve as pages, scribed on thin sheets of ivory, or disguised
by magic to look like a shield, gaming board, lute, or almost
any other mundane item of equivalent size.

But that is going to be a very big dinner plate.

IN addition to that:

Every wizard possesses a personal set of notations, formulas,
scripts, and ciphers for recording the workings of a spell.
While the underlying language and concepts are the same, no
wizard can simply pick up another’s spellbook and instantly
prepare spells from the foreign tome.

Mastering a Foreign Spellbook: Instead of laboriously
copying each spell of interest from a found spellbook into
his own, a wizard might instead make a dedicated effort to
master the spellbook’s particular ciphers and notations. This
procedure is sometimes referred to as becoming attuned to
the spellbook (although it’s a matter of time and study, not a
mystical process). Mastering a spellbook requires a success-
ful Spellcraft check (DC 25 + the level of the highest-level
spell in the book) and takes one week plus one day per spell
contained within. If the wizard succeeds, he can use the
foreign spellbook as his own, requiring no further Spellcraft
checks to prepare or copy spells from it. If he fails, he cannot
attempt to master that spellbook again until he gains at least
1 more rank in Spellcraft.

Anyway, I believe my question is answered. As long as it doesn't give my char unfair advantage, unusual writing is allowed.... but no (1 page per spell) geometer stuff.