Friday Encounter: Lost Spellbook

Here's a simple encounter that can fuel further developments in the campaign, and potentially give rise to a recurring adversary for the PCs. It is suited to any environment - in a dungeon, the wilderness, on the road, or possibly even in a town (such as in an alleyway somewhere). To best make use of this encounter, there should be at least one wizard in the party.

One way or another, the party should come across a discarded spellbook somewhere - either cast aside haphazardly, or guarded by some sort of trap or guardian. If a wizard can retrieve the book, and possesses the necessary spell slots and components, they will have access to whatever spells were recorded in its pages and can prepare and cast them.

To make this encounter the most fun, you should plan it in advance so the book contains spells that the wizard in the party does not already know, but that would benefit their character or play style (use your judgment here). This will expand the list of spells at their disposal. Incidentally, this is something I think DMs should do more of to tie PC advancement into the world - why have your players just pick new spells on leveling up when they can find them in books, or learn them from mentors? To make things really fun, include some spells that require spell slots the wizard doesn't have access to at their current level - this will provide an incentive to the player to pursue advancement so they can use their new spells, and gives them something to look forward to.

However, there is always a catch - and the spellbooks of unfamiliar wizards are not things to meddle with so lightly. The spellbook is attuned to its original user - although they may have misplaced it once, as soon as a different mage begins to draw power from the pages, the enchantments written into the book will alert its original owner to its current whereabouts, and that owner will surely be unhappy with something as priceless as a well-crafted spellbook containing years of study falling into the wrong hands.

This is a great way to introduce an rival magic-user to the campaign - ideally, one more learned and powerful than the PC wizard in order to provide some tension (and to explain the presence of higher-level spells - and again, to give the player something to aspire to!). I've deliberately left this open-ended so you can develop an antagonist suited to the PC in question. Their pursuit of the book can easily provide fodder for multiple adventures. They might send their servants after the party to try and retrieve the book, or inflict the PCs with curses or other obstacles. Sooner or later, though, they'll inevitably want to seek the thief out face-to-face for a battle of magical prowess!