Traveling Spell Books

[Scott]

Can someone tell me how many spells fit in a traveling spell book, per UA?

[Scott]

And how many fit in a back pack?

[GRWelsh]

From UA p. 79:

How many spells? Either nine cantrips; six spells of 1st, 2nd, and/or 3rd level; four spells of 4th, 5th and/or 6th level; or two spells of 7th, 8th, and/or 9th level.

How many fit in a back pack? Five such books will fit within the backpack, twice that number in a large sack.

[Scott]

Thank you. I need to start getting strict with the high level spell casters before starting the next leg of the G series.

[GRWelsh]

Hopefully, they will find a Bag of Holding or Portable Hole before you 'bring down the encumbrance hammer.'

[Scott]

The charmed stone giant porter came in handy.

[geneweigel]

Everything is the same in UA except the price.

There was a period of three years when spell books were officially:

Value of spell books
A standard spell book has an Experience Point Value of 1,000
points per spell level contained therein (considering cantrips as
first level spells for this purpose), and a Gold Piece Sale Value
of 200 gp per spell level (but only 150 gold pieces for each
cantrip, if the book is of that sort).
A travelling spell book has an Experience Point Value of 500
points per spell level contained therein (again, considering
cantrips as first level spells), and a Gold Piece Sale Value of
1,000 gp per spell level (applies to all spells, including cantrips).
As with any other magical items, spell books must either be
sold immediately or else the X.P. value taken. This holds true
regardless of whether or not any tome is eventually sold. Thus,
a spell book cannot be kept while a particular spell or spells are
transcribed, and then the work be sold for G.P. Sale Value and
the proceeds taken toward experience points.

But then I kept referring to the glitch in UNEARTHED ARCANA(1985):

Value of spell books
A standard spell book has an Experience Point Value of 500 points
per spell level contained therein (again, considering cantrips as 1stlevel
spells), and a Gold Piece Sale Value of 1,000 gp per spell level
(applies to all spells, including cantrips). As with any other magical
items acquired, spell books must either be sold immediately or else
the x.p. value taken. This holds true regardless of whether or not any
tome is eventually sold. Thus, a spell book cannot be kept while a particular
spell or spells are transcribed, and then the work sold for the
Gold Piece Sale Value and the proceeds taken toward experience
points.

Which must have deleted everything betwen "of" and "500".

Even if you didn't have the mid1982 issue (DRAG #62 JUN 1982) it was reprinted in 1983.

[Scott]

Never noticed that. Good catch.

[foster1941]

I never noticed that missing text from Dragon #62 before. It's worded confusingly. I assume the 1,000/level XP value is per book (so a book of 4th level spells is worth 4K XP no matter if it contains 1 spell or 10 spells) but the GP sale price is presumably per spell (so the former book would have a sale value of 800 GP and the latter 8,000 GP)? Meanwhile a traveling book of 4th level spells is worth 2,000 XP and 4,000 GP no matter how many spells it contains. I wonder if the reason that text was left out was because Mohan or Grubb (less likely Mentzer) found that text confusing and decided it was easier to just remove it and simplify the calculation than to try to clarify it.

[geneweigel]

Honestly? On a subconscious level, I was thinking this thread was going to be about the glitch but as I put it aside a long time ago, and totally forgot about it, it instead jarred the memory. Shit l;ike this would come up usually in reference with my friend Tim he would halt a lot of games to clarify as a DM but not so much as a player so what does that make him? A Constitutional Rules Lawyer? A Rules Judge?

Heh, I sometimes wonder if the true D&D is just an offshoot of Gary's day-to-day insurance underwriting. It certainly has all the elements of assessments, damage, projections, rewording, risk management, values, wealth comparison, environmental danger, dynamically potent but irrelevant elements, etc. Just look at the writing on this "lost" spell book thing. Its classic Gygax mentality and reeks of cleverly worded catches.

[rredmond]

Nov 10, 2016 14:00:29 GMT -5 GRWelsh said:

Hopefully, they will find a Bag of Holding or Portable Hole before you 'bring down the encumbrance hammer.'

I thought there is one in that series to be found... whether they found it or not would be the issue I guess.

Nov 10, 2016 16:01:56 GMT -5 Scott said:

The charmed stone giant porter came in handy.

Hah! Awesome.

--Ron--

[geneweigel]

There is a "box of holding " in the Ogre Magi Emissarie's Cavern.

A portable hole doesn't come along until the lich's lair in D1.