This mod is not working for me with Patch #5 (hotfix #17) as of Jan 16, 2024. I added the .pak file to the Mods directory as per instructions. Loaded an existing save and the cost to learn spells is still occurring.
Paying when adding spells has always been the norm for wizards - going all the way back when we still called them 'magic users'.
The gold doesn't get thrown on the ground, the premise is that you are paying for the supplies to add them to your spellbook or grimoire, a significant object of power for wizards that is essentially the source of all their knowledge. The importance and purpose of the gold expenditure is lost here but it is representing the cost of paper, inks, binding, etc to add the new spell to your spellbook - which is defined in the rules as " Essential for wizards, a spellbook is a leather-bound tome with 100 blank vellum pages suitable for recording spells." (source: 5e SRD)
While sorcerers have a few innate magic spells to choose from, and a warlock is limited by their patron, a wizard however are not innate casters, but prepared casters. During a full rest, while other classes might elect for martial training, meditation or the like, a wizard is reading their book and using it to memorize the spells they are selecting for the day. Wizards eventually will have an expansive amount of spells that must all be catalogued and written down in order to access the arcane "instructions" to cast them. Every time they level they get new selections (for free) like any other casting class would, but if they want expansive amounts of knowledge that means paying for the materials to record the spells. The assumption is that the base number of spells are already paid for through the original cost of the spellbook at level 1. The gold cost and the spellbook is the balancing mechanism that has been used for decades within the game to balance the sheer size of the wizard spell list. If it doesn't cost anything, then you are treating them like innate casters and removing one of the key features that defines the wizard's magical use.
Ironically one of the things you wanted to do - require a short rest for each spell that is added to the wizard's spell list - also matches what is done in tabletop. Gathering scrolls to be copied to your spellbook is not only expensive but also takes time. According to the PHB, each spell requires two hours each to transcribe to the book once the supplies have been gathered. Furthermore, you have to pass a Intelligence check (DC 10 + Spell's level) to determine if the spell was transcribed correctly, If you fail the check, the scroll is still destroyed and the spell is not added. This can lead to some serious table drama when you just went on a major quest to get a specific spell only to blow the check. People cry. It's serious business. lol. Furthermore, many people will roleplay a primary and a traveling spellbook at additional cost in order to avoid the possibilty of their wizard losing the spellbook and essentially becoming spell-less.
In any case, this is why wizards spend gold for new spells. Honestly, Larian made it very easy, but it should be explained why the expense is there after streamlining the entire process for BG3.
edit: to be clear, not disputing the necessity of the mod, just addressing comments about the confusion of paying for spells.
My suggestion for a mod if you want to make the game more realistic at learning spells is to make a duplicate of the inkpot item that's consumed instead of gold. Make that item available to merchants and boom you've replaced the gold cost to be realistic.
Thanks for mod =) btw is there way to remove lvl restriction, e.g. so i could learn fireball spell on lvl 4? also where did you get these "keys" - is there some game config API?
There is no official API that I know of. Usually you data mine the information and reverse engineer it to find out how everything works, and you start working from there.
And I don't know if there is any way to eliminate the level limitation, it's something I haven't looked at.
I totally agree, in fact my initial intention was to make a mod that would allow you to learn Spells for free, but need a short rest for each Spell, and a long rest for a maximum of 3 Spells, but I don't know how to do it currently, so I made this little mod in the meantime.
> I never understood the logic of "paying gold to learn magic for yourself." Pay who? Do you throw the money on the ground and the earth swallows it...?
The cost represents material components you expend as you experiment with the spell to master it, as well as the fine inks you need to record it.
Wonder if it'd be possible to make a mod that actually makes it so you must purchase the resources and combine them with the scroll to learn them. Probably very complicated but kinda immersive.
I wouldn't blame him for not understanding what the simplified version of the game mechanic did, BG3 doesn't explain it to them. If they made it so you needed to buy actual inks to inscribe the spell into the book instead of just having gold cost, it would have made more sense.
I am in favor of this. I play TTRPGs every Saturday, DnD among them, and all that immersion does make sense, the use of components, somantics, etc., but the fact that they simply ask me to throw gold on the ground or something like that to learn magic from a scroll... doesn't make much sense to me, that's why this little mod.
I do agree being able to in the wild just spend gold to somehow learn spells doesn't make much sense especially if you're not near civilization. I'd either not have a gold cost associated with it or make a crafting system for it.
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The gold doesn't get thrown on the ground, the premise is that you are paying for the supplies to add them to your spellbook or grimoire, a significant object of power for wizards that is essentially the source of all their knowledge. The importance and purpose of the gold expenditure is lost here but it is representing the cost of paper, inks, binding, etc to add the new spell to your spellbook - which is defined in the rules as " Essential for wizards, a spellbook is a leather-bound tome with 100 blank vellum pages suitable for recording spells." (source: 5e SRD)
While sorcerers have a few innate magic spells to choose from, and a warlock is limited by their patron, a wizard however are not innate casters, but prepared casters. During a full rest, while other classes might elect for martial training, meditation or the like, a wizard is reading their book and using it to memorize the spells they are selecting for the day. Wizards eventually will have an expansive amount of spells that must all be catalogued and written down in order to access the arcane "instructions" to cast them. Every time they level they get new selections (for free) like any other casting class would, but if they want expansive amounts of knowledge that means paying for the materials to record the spells. The assumption is that the base number of spells are already paid for through the original cost of the spellbook at level 1. The gold cost and the spellbook is the balancing mechanism that has been used for decades within the game to balance the sheer size of the wizard spell list. If it doesn't cost anything, then you are treating them like innate casters and removing one of the key features that defines the wizard's magical use.
Ironically one of the things you wanted to do - require a short rest for each spell that is added to the wizard's spell list - also matches what is done in tabletop. Gathering scrolls to be copied to your spellbook is not only expensive but also takes time. According to the PHB, each spell requires two hours each to transcribe to the book once the supplies have been gathered. Furthermore, you have to pass a Intelligence check (DC 10 + Spell's level) to determine if the spell was transcribed correctly, If you fail the check, the scroll is still destroyed and the spell is not added. This can lead to some serious table drama when you just went on a major quest to get a specific spell only to blow the check. People cry. It's serious business. lol. Furthermore, many people will roleplay a primary and a traveling spellbook at additional cost in order to avoid the possibilty of their wizard losing the spellbook and essentially becoming spell-less.
In any case, this is why wizards spend gold for new spells. Honestly, Larian made it very easy, but it should be explained why the expense is there after streamlining the entire process for BG3.
edit: to be clear, not disputing the necessity of the mod, just addressing comments about the confusion of paying for spells.
And I don't know if there is any way to eliminate the level limitation, it's something I haven't looked at.
the earth swallows it...?
The cost represents material components you expend as you experiment with the
spell to master it, as well as the fine inks you need to record it.
(Literally the first thing Google spits out.)