Note: My rules about spellbooks have been included in a submission to Palladium and, as such, are no longer available. Here is a brief review of the rationales behind the system. Books of Power

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It is unavoidable, perhaps, that some mages become known for some spells. This may be because they use them often, or it may just be because they used them with a bard in the room. The second, wizards can do very little about, unless they intend to drag a bard around with them everywhere (and that can have its disadvantages... look what happened to the Brave Sir Robin). However, it seems that a wizard who spends most of his time using one or two particular spells would gain skill in them, or at least some special insights into how they work. Since wizards are literate, methodical, folk, they tend to write down these observations, and review them as time goes by. Taken together, these observations form the wizard's spellbook. A wizard's spellbook is perhaps his most valued possession. He's not helpless without it, but it's use does carry a very definite advantage, with only a few drawbacks.

The first thing to note is that a spellbook is only of use to learned magic-users. Warlocks, Witches, Priests, and Mystics have no use for them, because their magic is not learned through rote study, but rather through inspiration and gifts of the spirit. Diabolists, Wizards, Dragons, and Summoners are but a few of the classes that can make use of these tomes.

The physical aspects of a spellbook vary almost as much as the physical aspects of wizards. For many, this is a lab book of sorts, properly bound and annotated, for ease of use. Others will use bundled sheets of paper, intricately carved staves, elaborate body tattooing, or, in the case of one Titan Diabolist, slabs of stone roughly the size of a large table. The important fact is not their construction, but rather that they are intelligible to the magic-user.

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