Wizard's Grimoires

So, it occurred to me from a Reddit discussion a few months ago that there should be some variety for wizard’s spellbooks – the DCC Core Rulebook touches briefly on copying spells, but not much else. 

So, for a starting wizards’ apprentice, or 1^st level wizard, what does their spellbook look like?  Is it a generic leather bound book with 100 pages, or is it a giant sacred gong they have to roll around?  A while back, I created a table for that for my game for starting 0-level Wizard’s Apprentice characters, feel free to adapt it.  While I was at it, I had decided how many ‘pages’ might be in a spellbook, so enterprising wizards might not dump the evil necromancer’s spellbook, but keep it to copy their own spells into it. 

And what about potion recipes, notations of ley lines or pressed fairies?

Lastly, what about casting a spell directly from a spellbook?  The Harnmaster RPG had rules for this, and it’s easily adapted – just extend the casting time a variable amount, reduce the casting action die, and increase the odds of something terrible happening …

In any case, I hope this is useful to you and your game – feel free to drop me a line with any questions, comments, changes, or stories from your game table, at archadethered@gmail.com.

 

Wizard’s Grimoire

     Books, treatises, or other written works are often used for wizards to inscribe their spells.  Wizards jealously guard their grimoires, and may inscribe them with secret codes, obscure abbreviations, in strange languages or scripts, or protect them with locks, guardians, or magic.

     A wizard can typically fit a spell on as many pages as the spell has levels (eg. A 2^nd-level spell would take 2 pages), and to inscribe a spell into their book takes 1 day per level of the spell.  Copying a spell usually does not take a skill roll or monetary cost, just quiet for the wizard and time, but sometimes the subject being copied is not in ideal condition and may take an Intelligence check (these DCs are cumulative, so copying a spell from a crumbling spellbook in an unknown language would be a DC 10 Intelligence check).

 

DC	Grimoire Condition to Copy
+5	Grimoire being copied is in poor condition, with tears, smudges, etc.
+5	Grimoire is in a language the wizard does not understand
+5	Grimoire was written with bad handwriting, or obscure terms

 

     Spellbooks are not scrolls, and do not hold magic in them per se, but in pressing conditions, or in an attempt to cast a spell by a non-Wizard, the reading of a spell directly from a book is possible, although dangerous.

     A spell cast directly from a book typically takes longer – 1d4 times as long (a spell taking 2 actions takes a round, 3 actions takes 2 rounds, etc), and the chance of something going horribly wrong is much higher, the roll is made at -1d.  So a trained wizard casting magic missile from their grimoire rolls a d16, but an untrained warrior attempting the same thing would roll a d8.  As well, a natural roll of 1-2 will count as a natural 1, with all the chances of misfire, corruption, or other potential mishaps.

 

D20	Grimoire Form
1-3	A thin, soft leather-bound chapbook that is small enough to fit in a pocket or pouch (10 pages)
4-5	A leather-bound book with metal edging in the corners, and a metal clasp (40 pages)
6-7	A weighty tome, bound with leather stretched over a wooden cover, that is sizable and weighs nearly 5 pounds, and a locking clasp (100 pages)
8	A wooden handled lengthly scroll that can be unfurled to great length (10 pages)
9	A matched set of carved runestones that can be laid out or cast in various patterns (10 pages)
10	A deck of ivory Elshmirian Tarnush playing cards with ornate pictures painted on them (5 pages)
11	A special brass astrolabe with an assortment of lenses and notches and strange markings, that allow the wizard to determine their spells by studying the constellations (20 pages)
12	An etched metal staff with intricate runes winding about the shaft, for the entire length (10 pages)
13	A massive iron-bound grimoire that is difficult to lift, with a built-in folding stand, weighing nearly 30 pounds (200 pages)
14-15	A slim folio, bound in some sort of reptilian skin stretched over a wooden cover (20 pages)
16	A stack of clay tablets etched with arcane writing, weighing 20 pounds (10 pages)
17	A disorganized stack of papers with disorganized scribblings and notes, kept in a leather folio (10 pages)
18	A hanging tapestry, with intricate words subtly woven into the background of a fantastic fey landscape.  It weighs 10 pounds and can be rolled to fit in a chest or large sack. (10 pages)
19	A book of hammered brass plates etched with words of power, all held together by metal rings (20 pages).
20	Something fantastic and strange that the Judge randomly picks or chooses for the wizard – standing stones in a faraway land, a sacred gong, etched gemstones and a special eyepiece, windchimes that catch the currents of ley lines, a smoke-filled orb that shows visions of elsewhere, a carved chaos idol that whispers secrets, an ancient tree that grants dreams to those who sleep under it, and so on.

 

     Outside of containing spells, there is a 10% chance any found spellbook contains 1d3 additional research notes, theories, or writings that may be of use to an aspiring wizard.

 

D24	Grimoire Tract Subjects
1-2	A recipe for a specific magical potion, +2 to its make potion check.
3	The true name of a demon.  Roll 1d10: (1-5) Type I, (6-8) Type II, (9) Type III, (10) Type IV.
4	A guide to ley lines, with at least one location that will grant a +2 to casting checks on a specific type of group of spells.
5-6	Instructions on a specific random language, that will allow the reader to use the Read Language skill like a thief of 1st level (1d20 + 0 + INT Modifier) after a week of uninterrupted study.
7-9	A plant identification guide, allowing trained skill checks.
10-12	A history tract about a specific kingdom, city, or person, allowing trained skill checks.
13-14	A treatise on insectology, allowing trained skill checks.
15	A book of pressed fairies, allowing trained skill checks to identify such creatures, as well as notations that allow a +2 to save versus faerie magic after a week of uninterrupted study.
16	A recipe for a healing poultice, that will allow the reader to spend a day crafting 1d3 compresses that heal 1d3 hit points over night if they have access to the right plants, after a day of study of the book.
17-18	A summary of dwarven archtitecture, allowing trained skill checks.
19	An alchemical primer, allowing a trained skill check modified by INT to identify alchemical substances (DC 10), poisons (DC 15), or magic potions (DC 20).
20	A guide to the stars and constellations, allowing a trained skill check to navigate or avoid getting lost.
21	An extensive tract on the subject of necromancy, granting a +1 to any spell check with necromantic spells, after a week of uninterrupted study.
22-23	A map of a kingdom, city, or region.
24	A minor curse to whomever reads it!

 

     A kind and merciful Judge might grant a player character with the Wizard Apprentice background to populate their Black Grimoire they possess 1d3 1^st level spells and a tract subject, or grant an Elven Sage with a parchment with a single tract subject.

     Remember, while it costs nothing for a wizard to copy a spell into a grimoire, the knowledge of said spells can be considered valuable by some – typically if a grimoire fell into the hands of a non-wizard, they might sell the book for 50 gp per spell level in the book if they knew what it contained, and if in the possession of a real wizard, they would of course guard it jealously and not part with it for mere coin.