Spell Books vs Wands

[roguebfl]

I've been trying to figure out a balanced priced for Spell books that work Modular Abilities (Super-Memorization) where the cost is the only real limit on a Magi's spell selection. When I realized it's a similar situation with the default GURPS wand. Though the wands are lightly more usable by people in general (don't need the Modular Abilities to use) but more difficult to make (the Books only need the TL text copying skill or the scribe spell).

Given we already have a pricing mechanism for Wands I though we could use it to base the price of the other. Any Ideas on how to relate the prices?

[Bruno]

Price of enchanting an item with a spell is (basically) based on time to enchant, which in turn is based on Energy cost to enchant, crossreferenced with the wages to pay an enchanter to enchant it.

So the "high theory" version is: Come up with a formula for "time to copy" based on energy of the enchantment, and figure out how much paying a scribe to copy it costs. For extra complication, factor in price of materials for copying (Book, Inks), probably also based on the energy cost of the enchantment.

[Kalzazz]

If you have Dungeon Fantasy 4, those prices seem pretty solid

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

If you have Dungeon Fantasy 4, those prices seem pretty solid

Humm... OK just went and got familiar with the rules for Manuals. Very interesting. I wounder if they would still consider 'balanced' For a Super memorization 1point/sec instead (and no flub) of Book-learning 1point/2hr

But the rules are good... 8)

[ClassifiedTSBBR]

Originally Posted by roguebfl

Given we already have a pricing mechanism for Wands I though we could use it to base the price of the other. Any Ideas on how to relate the prices?

The above seems to imply that the OP is referring to something other than the costs for creating Wands as Enchanted versions of spells per the spells in Magic, if so, can I query which book & chapter I need to read?

[munin]

At 3 to 12 pounds per manual (or even 48 pounds for a fine dwarven thesis), the DF system can be a bit taxing on a bespectacled sage (faerie manuals are a bit easier).

GURPS Thaumatology discusses using Super-Memorization for a spell-preparing mage (p. 56) and discusses suggested costs per spell for grimoires (books containing multiple spells) on p. 38. The costs per spell could be as little as 1/5 the DF costs, depending on choices made by the GM.

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by ClassifiedTSBBR

The above seems to imply that the OP is referring to something other than the costs for creating Wands as Enchanted versions of spells per the spells in Magic, if so, can I query which book & chapter I need to read?

Actually I was originally suggesting basing it on the $33 per energy point. (Magic p.20-21)

Which makes a Wand of Lightning $27,600 [800 energy + $1,200]

Originally Posted by munin

At 3 to 12 pounds per manual (or even 48 pounds for a fine dwarven thesis), the DF system can be a bit taxing on a bespectacled sage (faerie manuals are a bit easier).

GURPS Thaumatology discusses using Super-Memorization for a spell-preparing mage (p. 56) and discusses suggested costs per spell for grimoires (books containing multiple spells) on p. 38. The costs per spell could be as little as 1/5 the DF costs, depending on choices made by the GM.

Very interesting, compared to the Wand

This Lighting Thesis
-Lighting(1)
-Purify Air(1)
-Seek Air(1)
-Stench (1)
-No-Smell(1)
-Create Air(1)
-Shape Air(1)

Would Cost $700 and Weight 72lbs in DF
but under Thaumatology $140 and Weight... well GM's description.