Howdy

So.. I'm working on a request and I've run into a lot of issues with books of transmutation. The main issue is that I can't find lore on the damn things anywhere! Grr. Argh. Hisss.

Is the BoT an Amia-specific thing?

Does a sorcerer draw a green blob in his BoT and scribble in 'Acidball' above it to remind him what it looks like when he wants to toss balls of acid and not fire?

Would a sorcerer be able to combine and alter the magical effects he produces in subtle ways without the use of a BoT or is it something that's always required? If it is required, how is it used?

Halp. Wut do?

I think the Book of Transmutation is an Amian specific solution to pre-existing feats in 3.0/3.5 which allow for the changing of spell parameters (specifically energy type).

That's just my understanding, please take it with a bit of salt.

It's something of a quandary. While it's treated as an IC item, there's really no lore behind it afiak and is basically a thin veil for more mechanical flexibility.

On my to-do list is making the concept into something more quest-drop oriented that will be class dependent, and thereby allow for a greater fleshing out of the IC lore of the whats and the hows. For now it's one of those things likely left a little vague, in its current incarnation.

Well... Poop. I was worried it was something like that.

Does anyone know of any lore that supports or opposes the idea that sorcerers might be able to alter the magical effects they produce on their own?

Maybe forming a small flame to light a torch with instead of tossing an enormous fireball or turning a Cone of Cold effect into a Cone of Acid?

Not entirely new spells, but basically doing what the BoT on Amia allows like changing damage types, target types, etc.

Considering the pre-existance of Metamagic feats in D&D which allow to do it, I cannot see why a Sorceror couldn't learn to do the same on their own. Very likely, it'd either come down to someone who has developed a particular connection to an element, to a Sorceror who has taken the time to comprehend the inherent nature of elemental energy and learn to re-work the process of the spell subtly to achieve his aim.

It could also as easily be a Sorceror who's bloodline simply connects more readily to an element than another and, as a result they an with some practice and spell familiarity change some of their spells to work with that element.

Spells are pretty specific about what they do, though. Fireball always results in a 20ft-radius blast of fire (or other energy). Metamagic can adjust the variables, even going so far as to modify the shape of the blast freely, but it still does what it says on the can. Plus, you have to actually /take/ the metamagic feats, even if you're a sorcerer. Honestly I think this is in the realm of Requests - custom spells, or custom metamagic, Reserve feats, or special BoT pages (though given that it's being worked on this might be risky). So yeah, you could do it if you really worked hard at it, but as it is D&D builds their spells like programs, and you can't really change much about them on the fly even if you're a sorcerer.

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@Thanatopsis#6293

This is all in preparation for a series of requests. I wanted to see if there was any lore for how it could or couldn't be done before accidentally god-gaming through the RP. I've done some digging into the metamagic feats Grymia mentioned and it seems like the BoT on Amia has basically given casters access to the perks of those feats.

Sculpt Spell, Energy Substitution, and Widen Spell are the feats I found that seem to do what the BoT on Amia already allows casters to do. Because the BoT was created to give casters more mechanical flexibility by allowing them to do exactly what those PnP feats allow for, is it safe to say that casters on Amia already have access to those PnP feats?

Ah, yeah that all really hinges on how the DM team regards the BoT lore which as we've seen is unfortunately somewhat null and under (re)construction. I'm guessing you'll have to wait if you want to use any of that with the request.

Focusing on the bloodline angle for your request might be the better approach, if you don't want to wait (although the scripting block limits what you can do).

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@Thanatopsis#6293

Yeah, none of this is going to happen any time soon. There are a lot of requests I have in mind for what are basically custom BoT pages so I'm trying to put the lore together and get the RP moving early.

Honestly I don't even use one on Gerald for the exact reason that it simulates metamagic. Gerald hasn't pushed that far into his study yet.

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Gerald Edmund
Discord: Metal Viking Guy #5433

DC taxation is theft!

The problem I've always had with it is justifying why Krin would need one to mess with his magic. It would make sense for an epic level caster, especially one who has been epic for years, to find ways to further their abilities beyond the mechanics that NWN comes with.

But.. I'm iffy about god-gaming through the requests I'm putting together and saying that Krin already has those PnP feats. Messing with his build to get custom feats for something that the BoT already allows casters to do would be pretty crappy too. My character may be very, very outspoken about his god-like power level(It's over 9000), but as a player I try to be very careful about giving him abilities I'm not sure he should have.

Any suggestions from the Team?

Bump.

I made my suggestion above. I don't really have much to add at this point personally.

I obviously can't speak as to your specific inquiries to the DM team regarding your build and how it relates to the book, but in regards to the book itself...

Since there's no real set IC explanation, here's how I would personally differentiate between a sorceror's book and other caster's books and justify the use of them on those characters.

A wizard's book would be more methodical and logical - a record of experiments, calculations and variables. I did this, changed that, substituted x for y, etc.

A sorceror's book would be more focused on the sorceror himself rather than the magic. It could be a dream log, a journal, a book of epiphanies. He didn't substitute x for y, he had a dream wherein he was afloat on a sea of acid, but rather than eating away at his skin, it flowed and ebbed around him. As he later ruminates on his dream, he finds himself able to draw upon it to change his fireball to a ball of acid. Later, he has to reread his notes and analyze his dream again in order to untangle the associations in his mind. Maybe it really is a book of pictures he or others drew, visuals that awake something in his blood that allows his magic to change form when he channels it.

A cleric's book would be full of meditations on and prayers to the divine. Perhaps it would be methodical as well - I offer this up during my initial prayers in order to be granted this variant of the spell, or call upon this other power bound to my god for this variant during the casting of it - or perhaps it would be just as intuitive as the sorceror's depending on their personality and how they connect with their god.

If you're looking for lore relating to sorcerous manipulation of magic on a separate note from the in game book of transmutation, you could maybe look into the Simbul? I've never read the novels where she features, but she's known as a sorceress who has created several spells that change her own magics. Possibly applicable to your case, is that she somehow did so in a way that has allowed others to recreate the effects.

I hope you get something figured out that works for you!