The Value of a Spellbook

The Value of a Spellbook

Rare and exotic books, particularly those found in the depths of Halaster’s dungeon, can be great prizes indeed, especially if they are filled with magical secrets. As an example let’s take the spellbook that can be found on the first level of the dungeon. It contains the following spells: blight (lvl 4), burning hands (lvl 1), comprehend languages (lvl 1), darkvision (lvl 2), dispel magic (lvl 3), false life (lvl 1), feign death (lvl 3), gust of wind (lvl 2), invisibility (lvl 2), lightning bolt (lvl 3), and sleep (lvl 1).

 

We can calculate the “worth” of this book by looking at the cost of its creation. A blank spellbook costs 50 gp. Recording a spell costs an additional 50 gp (and 2 hours) per level of the spell. Using these rules our example spellbook would cost 1200 gp to create.

 

We can simplify this by assuming a default wizard progression. If a spellbook’s highest level spell is level 4, we assume it was owned by an 8th level wizard, and thus has four first level spells, three second level spells, three third level spells, and two fourth level spells inside.

 

Highest level

Gold cost

1

200

2

550

3

1000

4

1500

5

2100

6

2400

7

2750

8

3150

9

4500

 

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