Spell research is one of the most interesting aspects of Advanced
Dungeons & Dragons play—and one of the most troublesome for the
DM. Since many, if not most, spell casters eventually attempt to come
up with a new spell or two, the DM must give some forethought to the
processes that the player (in the real world) and his or her character (in
the game milieu) must go through in order to come up with new
expressions of their arcane thaumaturgical power. The following system,
though based upon the section on spell research in the Dungeon
Masters Guide, is slightly more complex (and, in game terms, more
expensive) than the official system.

DM and Player Preparations
Guidelines on new spells are tough. It is virtually impossible to
cover every case that might conceivably arise. A few parameters can
be set, though. As DM, you don’t want an all-purpose spell which can
do almost anything to almost anything. Spells should be restricted in
some way as to area or creature(s) affected. Most spells in D&D/
AD&D that kill, maim or annihilate affect only one creature, a relatively
small area, a limited number of creatures or hit dice of creatures, etc.

In order to permit thorough analysis, the player should submit to
the DM a complete written description of the proposed spell and its
effects (a la PIayers Handbook) including suggested level, components, <PHB: Spell Explanations>
area of effect, and description of its effects. The player should
suggest one or more special or extraordinary components, particularly
for the more powerful spells. The player should also indicate whether
he or she intends to invoke supernatural aid (demons, elementals,
etc. )

After the player has finished this and turned it in, the DM should
analyze the spell. What are its limits? How powerful is it intended to
be? What counteracts or negates the spell’s effects? How many creatures/
large an area will it affect? How long does the effect last? How
elaborate and expensive are the material preparations for the spell?
What is the casting time? How do all these factors compare with spells
already in existence?

With all this in mind, the DM must decide whether to accept the
spell as submitted, accept it with modifications, or reject it outright. An
improved or extended version of an extant spell would be only a level
or two higher. A spell combining the effects of two extant spells would
be ranked at least one level higher than the sum of the levels of the two
spells. It is entirely possible that the DM will decide that the spell is of a
higher level than the player’s character is able to research. Effects and
material components may also be modified.

A DM could tell the player what he’s decided—but whoever said
DMs are nice!?! It is suggested that the player be told nothing about
modifications to the spell until a substantial portion—at least 50%—of
the base research time and money have been expended (see below).
At that point the DM could indicate to the player that “there appears to
be no way to accomplish what you’ve planned,” or “your research
indicates that another component of unusual nature is needed, and
you’ll have to interrupt your research to obtain it.” This gives the
player a fair chance at success, without handing out triumphs on a
platinum platter.

The Character’s Preparations
THE LIBRARY. [Note that the scrolls, books, et al, mentioned
herein are those of the non-magical, informational sort.] Spell research
requires access to a fairly extensive library of scrolls, books,
treatises, tomes, and other works on the art and science and philosophy
of everything conceivable. Alchemy, astrology, astronomy,
biology, botany, chemistry, geology, geometry, history, medicine,
physics, physiology, and so forth are all proper concerns of the spell
researcher.

This is not to imply that the player must know all these things, or
that he must state exactly what he is doing, but his character in the
game is assumed to be conducting research and must therefore have
access to such information. This means that magical research must
take place in a large city with a guild of cooperative Magic-Users, in
some sort of “monastery” or retreat for Magic-Users, or in his/her own
tower or castle. Basic weekly costs (see below) should be increased by
100-150% or more when research is done at a guild library or retreat,
to cover room and board and maintenance costs. If there already
exists a structure of guild membership fees, basic costs should still be
increased by a “nominal” charge of an additional 50-75%.

Research in one’s own library will require that such a library have
been acquired and built up over the course of several levels of experience.
It should be not only difficult but expensive to acquire such a
library—a minimum expenditure of 10,000 gold pieces per level of
the spell to be researched is recommended. That is, if a Magic-User is
to research a second-level spell, he should have spent at least 20,000
gold pieces on his library.

It should be noted here that the sole determinant of whether a
work applies to first rather than second or third or ninth spell level for
research purposes is when it is bought. All works bought with the first
10,000 gold pieces are useful in the research of first-level spells.
Expenditure of the next 10,000 gold pieces builds on this base and
allows research of second-level spells, and so on. It is not, therefore,
possible to “skip” a level, hoping, for example, to research thirdlevel
spells after spending only 20,000 gold pieces on the library

The buying of books and scrolls must be selective, and should take
a great deal of the character’s game time. A typical library in a large city
should contain only enough usable material to supply 10-60% of the
library necessary to research first, second or third-level spells; 10-40%
for fourth, fifth or sixth-level spells; and only 5-30% of the library for
seventh, eighth or ninth-level spells.

The first 50% of each spell level of the library should be relatively
easy to track down, requiring one game day per percentage point of
searching (this assumes free access to the library, of course). The next
40% becomes harder to find due to the increasing duplication of
information, and requires two game days per percentage point. The
final 10% of the library is so difficult to search out that it requires an
entire week per percentage point.

Once the desired material has been ferreted out, copies must be
made. Remember that medieval-style libraries are not bookstores;
extra copies of manuscripts are not kept around “just in case” someone
wants them. As with all other facets of the task, the copying
process will be expensive and time-consuming. Each 10% of the
library available (as indicated by the preceding paragraph) requires
the expenditure of 1,000 gold pieces, which buys (80% chance) 7-10
scrolls or similar works or (20% chance) 1-4 books, tomes, or the like.
Each scroll will take one month to copy; a book requires one month
per 100 gold pieces of value to copy. A library will assign 1-4 scribes to
the project, to a maximum of one scribe per work (scroll, book, or
other). Additional scribes will be assigned upon payment of an additional
10% of the total cost of the project per scribe, but the maximum
of one scribe per work must be observed.

Errors often crop up during the laborious process of hand-copying
which the scribes employ. There is a 10% chance for substantial error
in a reference work for research on spell levels one through three, 20%
for levels four through six, and 40% for levels seven through nine.
Each additional one month of game time and 100 gold pieces expended
on a work over and above the minimum required will reduce
the chance for error by 8%. There is, however, always a minimum
chance for error—2%, 4% and 8% respectively.

Each work which has an error will reduce by 1% the base chance
for success in spell research (see below). Therefore, the DM should
keep a record of these errors and the spell level(s) they affect. (As the
contents of the library are additive, errors in the lower levels of spell
research material will affect the chance of success at all higher levels of
research.) Records should also be kept of the total number of works in
the library and the total amount of gold expended on it.

If a work is simultaneously being copied and translated from
another language, the chance for error should be doubled or tripled
(at the DM’s discretion). The DM may desire to place special ancient
texts of arcane lore and forbidden knowledge in his dungeons, or
allow characters to come across such works “accidentally” while
shopping the bazaars along the caravan route to the mystic east. In
such cases, copying time equals study time and the chance for a
copying error should be treated as a chance that the player character
will misunderstand the work; increasing the amount of time spent
studying the work will decrease the chance for such a misunderstanding,
as noted above for copying errors.

When research is carried out in another’s library and details on the
number of errors are unavailable, assume that 1-10 works per spell
level have a chance for containing substantial error. Roll for each work
at twice the minimums given above for error, i.e. 4%, 8% and 16% for
the three categories of spell research material.

THE LABORATORY. The library allows the spell caster to research
basic knowledge and to glean ideas on how to proceed in his
search for a new spell, but the actual trial-and-error work of spell
research must be done in a properly equipped laboratory. At higher
levels of experience, this laboratory can also be used in the fabrication
of potions and other magic items. The Dungeon Masters Guide, page
116, provides a good description of the construction and maintenance
of such a laboratory. Note that “special provisions” would be any
material components of unusual nature required for the casting of the
new spell (fresh dragon blood and ground lich skull, for example, are
hardly common!) and “special protections” would include such things
as lead-lined walls and magic circles of protection to keep out prying
eyes and evil creatures.

The Research Process
The first question to be settled is whether the character is capable
of successfully researching the proposed spell. The character must
be at least one experience level higher than the level necessary to
cast spells equivalent to the proposed spell, i.e. second level to
research first-level spells, fourth experience level to research
second-level spells, sixth level to research third-level spells, and so
forth. The character must have spent a sufficient quantity of gold on
his or her library to allow basic research of spells of the necessary
level (10,000 gold pieces per spell level), or he must have access to
such a library. The laboratory must be fully stocked; special or
extraordinary components must have been obtained. Spell research
may now commence.

Spell research absolutely must be carried out in near-total privacy
and isolation, uninterrupted by adventuring, audiences with subjects
or retainers, shopping for food, or any other such heroic or mundane
activities. The character is therefore effectively eliminated from active
campaigning for the duration of the research period. Any interruption
will negate all previous work, and the research process must be begun
again from scratch. Research at a guild or retreat satisfies this requirement
for privacy, but if done in his or her own library the character
must employ persons to act as guards, servants, etc. The character
will, of course, be unable to supervise the activities of these retainers to
ensure the performance of their duties; a trusted henchman would
come in handy for that purpose.

BASIC COSTS—TIME AND MONEY. The base cost of spell
research is one game week per spell level and 1,000 gold pieces per
spell level per week; this yields a 10% chance of success. From this
base percentage figure are subtracted penalties accruing due to errors
in the library. Percentile dice are rolled when the base research period
has been completed and, if the character is unsuccessful, research
may continue as long as the character’s money holds out. In this case,
the percentile dice are rolled at the end of each succeeding week.
 

If the character is of an experience level at least twice the minimum
at which spells of the appropriate level may be researched (i.e. fourth
experience level for first-level spells, eighth for second-level spells,
and so on) then the character is permitted to double both base time
and gold expended to two weeks per spell level and 2,000 gold pieces
per spell level per week—and thereby obtain a doubling of the base
chance for success to 20%.

Each such factorial increase in the experience level of the researcher
allows for a corresponding increase in both time and money expended
to produce an increase in the base chance for success to 30%,
40% and even 50% at five times the base experience level (that would
be 10th experience level to research first-level spells, 20th level for
second-level spells, 30th level for third-level spells!). In such cases, the
entire base time must elapse before checking for success. For example,
a sixth-level Magic-User expending three weeks and 3,000 gold
pieces per week to research a first-level spell must complete the entire
three weeks before rolling the percentile dice to check for success. In
addition, if the character is unsuccessful after completing the base
research period, research must continue for two, three, four or five
weeks, depending on the multiplier used for the base research costs,
before a further check for success may be made.

When spell research has been completed, whether successful or
not, the researcher must rest a minimum of one day per week spent in
the research process. The DM may choose to require additional rest
time if the research process involved the summoning of supernatural
aid or other such debilitating activity.

Clerical Research
Because Clerics receive most of their spell powers through divine
favor, their research process is slightly different. The Cleric must
acquire a library (or have access to one) composed of theological
dissertations and prayers and meditations to the character’s deity or
deities. The value of the library is only 5,000 gold pieces per level for
first and second spell level material and 1,000 gold pieces per level for
third through seventh spell level material. In addition, the Cleric must
have spent 10,000 gold pieces per spell level for vestments and altar
vessels, censers, holy/unholy symbols and the like.

Clerical research on first or second-level spells may take place in
any private or secluded place of the character’s choice after first
casting Bless, Protection from Evil/Good and Sanctuary, followed by
a prayer to the deity. If the research is to take place in a shrine or similar
place already dedicated to the deity, this process will be unnecessary.

Research on third, fourth and fifth-level spells requires that the
Cleric must have established a private chapel dedicated to the deity of
at least 200 square feet in area. Because the Cleric must contact his or
her deity directly to obtain sixth or seventh-level spells, he or she must
have previously established a religious stronghold (page 20 of the
Players Handbook) which should also include a private chapel of at
least 400 square feet in area.

Clerical spells rarely require any material component other than
the Cleric’s holy/unholy symbol, but quests, voluntary deeds and
sacrifices are often demanded when some new high-level spell is
requested of the deity or its minions. When such a sacrifice or action is
required of the character, the DM should inform the player of the
deity’s decision after the base research period has been completed.
The character must then accomplish the deed, return and perform
another week of prayers. Then the percentile dice are rolled to determine
success. The DM should feel free to adjust the base chance for
success to account for half-hearted or exemplary performance of the
required action. In no case is this to be construed as a license for
general adventuring. If the character should be so foolish as to stray
from his or her task in order to pick up a little extra gold and experience,
treat it as an interruption of the research process—all previous
work goes for naught.