# Can you cast a spell from a spellbook?



## dead (Apr 30, 2009)

One of my players was fresh out of useful spells - both memorised and on scrolls - and really wanted to cast a spell in a climatic battle.

They asked if they could cast it from their spellbook.

Can this be done? Effectively the spellbook would be like a bound collection of scrolls. If a spell was cast from it, then those pages would be destroyed and the wizard would have to find another copy to rescribe.

This is a handy backup for a wizard player but I've always thought spellbooks and scrolls were different. Scrolls are magic items specifically made to trigger a spell effect. While spellbooks are tomes of arcane formulae that enable the memorization of spells.

So what is the official ruling on this?

Thank you


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## Starbuck_II (Apr 30, 2009)

dead said:


> One of my players was fresh out of useful spells - both memorised and on scrolls - and really wanted to cast a spell in a climatic battle.
> 
> They asked if they could cast it from their spellbook.
> 
> ...




No, it can't be done if following the official rules. Spellbooks aren't magical (can't be dispelled), but scrolls are.


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## ElectricDragon (Apr 30, 2009)

You cannot cast a spell from a spellbook. You got it right:


			
				dead said:
			
		

> Scrolls are magic items specifically made to trigger a spell effect. While spellbooks are tomes of arcane formulae that enable the memorization of spells.




Sorry, I don't have an official reference for you just now, I am away from my books.

In 2e, casting from the spellbook was often a house rule, allowed because low level wizards usually ran out of spells. 3.xe fixed that by allowing more spells/day to the wizard and so the spellbook became just a reference book rather than a backup scroll-carrier. This sometimes got silly as wizards would have 8-10 copies of spells they liked in their spellbook for just this purpose, or even extra copies of their spellbooks to use as backup. In 2e, with some DMs, it was less hassle to put spells in a spellbook than it was to make a scroll.

Ciao,
Dave


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## frankthedm (Apr 30, 2009)

Back in 1E, Unearthed Arcana had this option. Spellbooks were more valuable then and doing this for one spell could nuke more spells than just the one cast.


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## irdeggman (May 1, 2009)

From the SRD

These are the types of magic items



> USING ITEMS
> To use a magic item, it must be activated, although sometimes activation simply means putting a ring on your finger. Some items, once donned, function constantly. In most cases, using an item requires a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. By contrast, spell completion items are treated like spells in combat and do provoke attacks of opportunity.
> 
> Activating a magic item is a standard action unless the item description indicates otherwise. However, the casting time of a spell is the time required to activate the same power in an item, regardless of the type of magic item, unless the item description specifically states otherwise.
> ...




A spellbook is a magical arcane writing but it is not a spell completion item.

Note that all of the items above requires a craft magical item feat in order to create - a spellbook does not. Major difference in 3.5 rules from previous editions.


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## irdeggman (May 1, 2009)

From the FAQ (this might help to explain the concepts)



> *Can a wizard cast a spell directly from his spellbook? If so
> what effects on the spellbook are there?*
> 
> No, you cannot use a spellbook like a scroll. A spellbook
> ...


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## Runestar (May 1, 2009)

Wouldn't allow it anyways.

The cost of copying a spell into a spellbook is 150*spell lv gp.

The cost of a scroll of that spell is spell lv*casterlv*25gp.

It would be too expensive for low lv spells (ie: spells of 3rd lv and below) and too cheap for higher lv spells (ie: spells of 4th lv and above). Problematic either way.


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## roguerouge (May 1, 2009)

I've let players do so, although it is against RAW. It just seems so intuitive to me that what's essentially a recipe book can be followed like a recipe to produce the desired effect. (And so I treat the "spell books are series of notes on how to cast the spell and scrolls are partially cast spells" description as flavor rather than Rule.) And, really, it's so much better for a wizard to scribe the spells into their book that a player's only going to ask if he can do this when he's desperate anyway.

I'd impose a penalty if you're feeling uncomfortable going too far down this path. Perhaps double or triple the casting time.


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## Herzog (May 1, 2009)

(Borrowing from 4e) I'd even go as far as putting a minimum casting time of 10 minutes on it.

Which leaves the question: what happens to the pages in the spellbook if you do this?

You can, of course, completely bypass the problem by treating scrolls and spellbooks exactly the same.

Spellbooks then become bound volumes of scrolls. If you then use it as a scroll, the spell disappears from your book. Writing a new spell in the book then requires the same amount of gold, time, and xp as writing it as a scroll. 
Preparing spells effectively becomes memorizing the spell trigger instruction present in the scroll.


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## risner (May 1, 2009)

dead said:


> So what is the official ruling on this?




Spell books can't be used to cast spells directly, period.

There is no rule hinting, suggesting, implying, or otherwise existing to use to attempt to cast from the spellbook.  With no rule, you can't do it unless the DM creates a rule (house rule.)


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## roguerouge (May 1, 2009)

Basically, that's how I house ruled spellbooks, as Herzog puts it.


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## dead (May 2, 2009)

OK. Thanks folks for the help. I thought you couldn't do it.

It's kind of a nice touch, though, for a wizard to use in absolute desparation


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## den4quest (Nov 29, 2017)

Top of page 80 in Unearthed Arcana....titled  'Casting Spells Directly From Books'


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## Ian England (May 10, 2019)

Buy Scolls.
Buy paperclip.
Required  5 Intelligence.

Viola!  Scrollbook!


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