Sharing Spellbooks is a Killer Feature for Players and DMs

One of the best and most exciting opportunities in a campaign for a Wizard to expand their powers? Acquiring a spellbook.

One of the worst moments of mid-session housekeeping that completely derails the game? Acquiring a spellbook.

The times I got my hands on a new spellbook have felt like huge milestones. Grabbing The Incants of Exethanter at the Amber Temple in Curse of Strahd or Tholtz Daggerdark's spellbook on The Morkoth in Storm King's Thunder.

These are a big deal. Seeing what spells are in the book is exciting, what spells you now have access to that you can learn — without needing to get to your next level up. A strange and exotic Wizard's knowledge can become your own.

But at the table, it's not a fun experience.

The excitement of getting the book and finding out what spells are in it quickly boils down to a lot of paper work.

As you crack open the spellbook, the DM will tell you what spells your character is finding etched throughout the pages:

"Banishment, Fabricate, Contact Other Plane..."

You scramble to write them down on your character sheet. The DM continues:

"...Confusion, Magic Jar, Dream, Mind Blank, Otto's Irr—"

"Wait could you repeat that?" the player asks.

"Mind Blank?"

"No, what came before Dream?"

"Magic Jar?"

"No, I've got that one — could you just start at the beginning and read them all again?"

Maybe that's not your experience at the table, but it's happened to me. One of the most exciting moments for a Wizard brings the table to a halt.

This is where the 5.5e Spellbook Builder comes in handy.

The DM can pre-build the spellbook, hit share and send the URL over to the player. The player taps the URL and is asked to open up the spellbook — and it's ready to go, saved into their Spellbook Builder.

Try it yourself. Pick up The Incantations of Iriolarthas, the spellbook of the Demilich in Ythryn from Rime of the Frostmaiden, right now with a click. No logins or signups, you just get playing with it.

Instead of the DM loudly announcing all the spells and a player feverishly attempting to write it all down, the player can look through the contents on their own accord, just like their character would. It also grants the player the ability to roleplay their discoveries at the table to their party rather than the DM revealing all for everyone whether they like it or not. And it all happens in an instant without slowing down the game.

I didn't build the Spellbook Builder for this feature, but it might be one of my favourite things to come out of making this tool. I hope you like it!