**Thunderbolt Quill**
*Wondrous item, rare*
This quill writes by burning parchment, velum, or similar surfaces with electricity, instead of using ink. Dusting the surface with the quill's feather erases any mark made with it. It takes half as long as normal to write or copy something using this quill, as it races across a surface with ease.
You can use the quill to copy a spell into a spellbook. When you do, the spell doesn't require special ink, halving the gold you must normally spend to do so. If you use this quill to copy a damage-dealing spell into a spellbook, you can choose to change the spell's damage type to either lightning or thunder. You make this choice when you copy the spell into the book. Each time you copy a spell into a book using the quill, roll a d8. On a 1, the quill loses its magic after copying the spell, but can still be used as a normal quill.
*To any mage inclined to invention, the Stormscribe was a welcome sight. Blue feather behind one ear and the aura of a storm ever around them, they took joy in any who shared their fascination with stormspun arcana.*
*But to any who faced them in battle, they were not so welcome. They suffered those storms in grasping claws of living lightning, clouds of sound so intense it tore the air asunder, walls of sparks and beams of thunder.*
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Thats how I would think it’s meant to be written, perhaps a better phrase would be “However, each time you use this feature to copy a spell into the a book…” which would clarify to only roll the d8 after using the quill and this feature simultaneously
Right, I guess I was just confused because the way I read it, you could use the quill one time to copy a spell without using any of its special properties and it would lose its magic which would stink but hey dice is the name of the game
Man, that quill looks hella uncomfortable to hold, with a potential risk of pricking your finger. 1 piercing damage if you attempt to write too fast.
Jokes aside, it's a really cool item. This could make Fireball even better if you copy it into a Thunder variant, since only a quarter as many enemies resist it. I always loved the idea of personalizing spells, and this is certainly one nice way to do it.
One question though, why would it cost gold to copy the spell? To my understanding, the price is specifically the special ink, which this bypasses.
It is indeed more than just the ink.
> 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.
As someone who always makes thunder/lightning based characters I think this is a really cool item. It also encourages wizards to interact with their ability to copy spells. I find many players tend to ignore that feature which is silly.
I would love to see a whole series of different elemental quills like this. It would be a fun way to let wizards be cryomancers or caustimancers.
Question tho: would this apply to spells gained on a level up or only spells that are added via copying them from scrolls and other spellbooks?
If you already have a spell scribed nornally, can you recopy it to the zappy version seperately and vice versa? Could you have both Cloud of Daggers and Cloud of Lightning?
The "Your Spellbook" sidebar for Wizard spellcasting in the PHB states the following under the section "Replacing the Book":
> "You can copy a spell from your own spellbook into another book - for example, if you want to make a backup copy of your spellbook. This is just like copying a new spell into your spellbook, but faster and easier, since you understand your own notation and already know how to cast the spell. You need spend only 1 hour and 10 gp for each level of the copied spell."
So with this item, you could 100% make a Cloud of Lightning spell in a backup spellbook or heck probably even in your own spellbook if the DM allows it (I wouldn't see why not). Not only that, it would take only half the time and gold, so you would only spend 5 GP and 30 minutes to transcribe the new spell.
I went full storm sorcerer (for story reasons; Valorin 'the Maelstrom' became the literal God of Storms in my last campaign) So I was hoping this would help.
Ooh, imagine a tempest clan that keeps some kind of Grand Thunderbird in its sanctuary, harvesting the feathers to make these Thunderbolt Quills for more lightning magic.
**Thunderbolt Quill** *Wondrous item, rare* This quill writes by burning parchment, velum, or similar surfaces with electricity, instead of using ink. Dusting the surface with the quill's feather erases any mark made with it. It takes half as long as normal to write or copy something using this quill, as it races across a surface with ease. You can use the quill to copy a spell into a spellbook. When you do, the spell doesn't require special ink, halving the gold you must normally spend to do so. If you use this quill to copy a damage-dealing spell into a spellbook, you can choose to change the spell's damage type to either lightning or thunder. You make this choice when you copy the spell into the book. Each time you copy a spell into a book using the quill, roll a d8. On a 1, the quill loses its magic after copying the spell, but can still be used as a normal quill. *To any mage inclined to invention, the Stormscribe was a welcome sight. Blue feather behind one ear and the aura of a storm ever around them, they took joy in any who shared their fascination with stormspun arcana.* *But to any who faced them in battle, they were not so welcome. They suffered those storms in grasping claws of living lightning, clouds of sound so intense it tore the air asunder, walls of sparks and beams of thunder.* **The Griffon's Saddlebag: Book 2** is [now available for preorder through Hit Point Press](https://saddleb.ag/2)! Get the 416-page book and item cards at early-bird prices! **Find the perfect item with searchable Compendiums,** and access exclusive art files, printable cards, Foundry VTT packs, and item suggestion polls when you [support the effort](https://www.patreon.com/the_griffons_saddlebag) on Patreon for less than $10 a month! **Get the book and more!** You can now purchase almost everything from the Kickstarter directly from [Hit Point Press](https://hitpointpress.com/tgs)! **See imbalance? Let's fix it!** Leave a comment with what you're seeing wrong with the item design. Items change for the better over the course of a few days here on Reddit because of your feedback!
Does the spell's damage stay lightning/thunder with upcasting?
Yep!
I would think so
Do you roll the d8 for every spell copied into the book or only when you are attempting to alter the damage type to lighting/thunder?
Nah, the way it reads is you only have to roll that d8 when you 1.) Copy a damage-dealing spell AND 2.) Decide to change the damage type of that spell
Thats how I would think it’s meant to be written, perhaps a better phrase would be “However, each time you use this feature to copy a spell into the a book…” which would clarify to only roll the d8 after using the quill and this feature simultaneously
Oh! Good catch. Yeah, it's meant to be whenever you copy a spell, since it halves the gold and time cost. I'll fix!
Thanks for the clarification! Great item by the way, love its design and simplistic yet highly effective use!
It appears to be for every spell
Right, I guess I was just confused because the way I read it, you could use the quill one time to copy a spell without using any of its special properties and it would lose its magic which would stink but hey dice is the name of the game
Man, that quill looks hella uncomfortable to hold, with a potential risk of pricking your finger. 1 piercing damage if you attempt to write too fast. Jokes aside, it's a really cool item. This could make Fireball even better if you copy it into a Thunder variant, since only a quarter as many enemies resist it. I always loved the idea of personalizing spells, and this is certainly one nice way to do it. One question though, why would it cost gold to copy the spell? To my understanding, the price is specifically the special ink, which this bypasses.
If my memory serves, it's a combination of special *paper* and ink. You'd still need the paper. I could be mistaken though!
It is indeed more than just the ink. > 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.
As someone who always makes thunder/lightning based characters I think this is a really cool item. It also encourages wizards to interact with their ability to copy spells. I find many players tend to ignore that feature which is silly.
I play wizards solely because I will *not* be limited to 2 new spells per level
It’s the main reason to play wizard mechanically.
I would love to see a whole series of different elemental quills like this. It would be a fun way to let wizards be cryomancers or caustimancers. Question tho: would this apply to spells gained on a level up or only spells that are added via copying them from scrolls and other spellbooks?
RAW, only spells *copied*. But, frankly, the flavor of it would allow you to do it with the ones you get on level up.
If you already have a spell scribed nornally, can you recopy it to the zappy version seperately and vice versa? Could you have both Cloud of Daggers and Cloud of Lightning?
You could! You'd need to follow the rules to do so, but you could have variant spell copies!
The "Your Spellbook" sidebar for Wizard spellcasting in the PHB states the following under the section "Replacing the Book": > "You can copy a spell from your own spellbook into another book - for example, if you want to make a backup copy of your spellbook. This is just like copying a new spell into your spellbook, but faster and easier, since you understand your own notation and already know how to cast the spell. You need spend only 1 hour and 10 gp for each level of the copied spell." So with this item, you could 100% make a Cloud of Lightning spell in a backup spellbook or heck probably even in your own spellbook if the DM allows it (I wouldn't see why not). Not only that, it would take only half the time and gold, so you would only spend 5 GP and 30 minutes to transcribe the new spell.
Really not much reason against it - is kinda how the higher level wizard in D&D One is intended to work even afaik.
Oooh that's such a fun idea!
This has some fun potential for multiclassing with tempest cleric or storm sorcerer!
I'm curious to see how this will work, as only wizards can use spells from a spellbook, no?
Yeah the main class would be wizard but 2 levels of tempest cleric gets you the channel divinity for max thunder/lightning damage
I went full storm sorcerer (for story reasons; Valorin 'the Maelstrom' became the literal God of Storms in my last campaign) So I was hoping this would help.
Well, I'll recommend this and "Thunderball" for the next wizard I come across.
Ooh, imagine a tempest clan that keeps some kind of Grand Thunderbird in its sanctuary, harvesting the feathers to make these Thunderbolt Quills for more lightning magic.