Forum

The text states that using a grimoire requires a fast action to ready it, but spells are considered 1 rank step lower.
Does that mean that a PC with only 1 Rank in a magic talent can cast a Rank 2 spell without suffering a mishap (and assuming they have that spell scribed in their grimoire)?
Are there any other benefits?

If I am correct, I can’t really see any advantage to using a grimoire. A spell caster wouldn’t be able to scribe the spell in the first place, so we assume it was done by their tutor.
Are there rules for how many spells a grimoire starts with?

You can use a grimoire with the safe casting rule (this is my interpretation of the rules): So if you are a Healer Rank 1 and cast Healing Hands Rank 1 with the help of a grimoire it counts as one lower rank than normal. This will bring the spell to Rank 0, one less than your Healer Rank. This allows you to roll one less mishap dice than you normally would. If you for example cast a Power Level 1 Healing Hands, you can top to not cast the mishap die at all. Safer (no risk for a bane) but also no chance for an overcharge. Further. If you are a Healer Rank 1 and find a grimoire (or any written work, not just a book) with the Healer spell Mend Wound Rank 2, you can cast that spell by using the chance casting rule (can be dangerous) or you can cast slower than normal by using the grimoire (it counts as a rank one spell). The interpretation part of this is to allow a spells ranking (or what ranking you count the spell to have) to go below 1. I allow that because otherwise it would be no meaning to have rank 1 spells in a grimoire. Since it is very expensive to increase the magic talents, to find various written works with higher level spells (that you might not yet can scribe) can be of great value for a druid or sorcerer. No one start with a grimoire, so you have to write one. A grimoire can be anything from a simple scroll to a big book with x number of spells. GM discretion.

Makes sense. Thanks for the response.

My read of the magic section agrees with everything Fenhorn said, furthermore!

If you chance cast a higher rank spell in safety, you can then go and make a grimoire for it. So you don't just have to find higher rank spell grimoires, you can also make them.

My read of the magic section agrees with everything Fenhorn said, furthermore!

If you chance cast a higher rank spell in safety, you can then go and make a grimoire for it. So you don't just have to find higher rank spell grimoires, you can also make them.

Would disagree with this last part. If you don't master a spell you are unable to write down the intricacies of casting. You cast it by chance, so how sure are you of what you did right, and what you did wrong?

Would disagree with this last part. If you don't master a spell you are unable to write down the intricacies of casting. You cast it by chance, so how sure are you of what you did right, and what you did wrong?

While I understand that ruling and why you would make it; the grimoire sideblock just says

Writing down a spell requires that you first cast it once.

If a player wants to risk life and time to do this, I see no problem with it. They'd have to do it spell by spell. Obviously if that doesn't sit well with ya, homerule it like so.

How exactly does a player come by a grimoire? The rules in the Players Handbook refer to it as an artifact, but it is not listed as one in the GM's guide. Nor is it anywhere in the gear list in the Player's Handbook. It feels like a late addition to make spellcasting slightly less hazardous but not fully fleshed out in the rest of the rules. I haven't read Raven's Purge or the Spire of Quetzel yet, so I'm not sure if any grimoires are mentioned as possible loot in the campaign.

How exactly does a player come by a grimoire? The rules in the Players Handbook refer to it as an artifact, but it is not listed as one in the GM's guide. Nor is it anywhere in the gear list in the Player's Handbook. It feels like a late addition to make spellcasting slightly less hazardous but not fully fleshed out in the rest of the rules. I haven't read Raven's Purge or the Spire of Quetzel yet, so I'm not sure if any grimoires are mentioned as possible loot in the campaign.

As far as I understand, a player can either find one or make one themselves. The grimoire itself doesn't have any magical properties to it - it's just a collection of written down instructions on how to cast spells. In the equipment section the quill and ink as well as the parchment says they can be used to write down spells. Since writing down spells is really good and useful, I would like to think that it consumes one set of quill and ink as well as maybe one sheet of parchment per spell rank or something like that? Obviously that's up to the GM to decide, but I do want there to be some cost to writing down spells.

I do feel like am "empty leather-bound book" or something like that is missing from the equipment list. Just make one up - 6 copper per page, some copper for the leather binding and then a few silver for the work. So maybe 5-20 silver depending on how many pages?

Would disagree with this last part. If you don't master a spell you are unable to write down the intricacies of casting. You cast it by chance, so how sure are you of what you did right, and what you did wrong?

While I understand that ruling and why you would make it; the grimoire sideblock just says

Writing down a spell requires that you first cast it once.

If a player wants to risk life and time to do this, I see no problem with it. They'd have to do it spell by spell. Obviously if that doesn't sit well with ya, homerule it like so.

I stand corrected Will, as you said, probably houserule it anyway though