[RPG] Can a bard teach a wizard a spell

barddnd-5espellswizard

Can a wizard learn a spell from a bard, assuming the spell is on both class lists? This is related to Can a warlock teach a spell to a wizard? but is not exactly the same, since warlocks don't really understand wizards' magic, and bard is a different class.

Our party is only level 2 and we're trying to allay costs for transcribing spells a bit. Would this work out?

Best Answer

No

Your plan will not work for 2 reasons:

  • Bards cannot teach wizards spells
  • Even if they could, it would not help with transcription costs

Bards cannot teach wizards spells

The Player's Handbook outlines the ways that a Wizard can learn a new spell via Wizard class features:

  1. By leveling up (research)

    The spells that you add to your spellbook as you gain levels reflect the arcane research you conduct on your own, as well as intellectual breakthroughs you have had about the nature of the multiverse.

    Now, thematically, you might say that, as part of the Wizard's research, the Bard was able to help them learn and master the spell. However, this would not grant you any additional spells beyond what the Wizard would normally be able to learn on the occasion of their leveling up. So this would be a flavor-only thing and not mechanically helpful which it seems is what you want.

  2. By finding spells on scrolls or in spellbooks and copying them into their spellbook

    They can also learn them from other wizards, from ancient tomes or inscriptions, and from ancient creatures (such as the fey) that are steeped in magic. (PHB 112)

    In general, the way a Wizard learns spells is by deciphering some written form of the spell and then laboriously copying it into his own spell book.

    Copying that spell into your spellbook involves reproducing the basic form of the spell, then deciphering the unique system of notation used by the wizard who wrote it. (PHB 114)

    Note how this quote emphasises that the material they learn from is generally assumed to be 1) written and 2) written by a wizard specifically.

So there is no mechanical way for a Bard to teach a Wizard a spell.

Not only does it not work mechanically, it also doesn't make sense thematically since Bards and Wizards have very different ways of casting and their techniques are just not transferable.

It would not help with transcription costs

"We're trying to allay costs for transcribing spells a bit"

This part deserves some attention as well. Aside from leveling, using any other method in the Wizard class to add spells to your spellbook require you to take the time and pay the cost associated with adding that spell to your spellbook.

Copying that spell into your spellbook involves reproducing the basic form of the spell, then deciphering the unique system of notation used by the wizard who wrote it. You must practice the spell until you understand the sounds or gestures required, then transcribe it into your spellbook using your own notation.

For each level of the spell, the process takes 2 hours and costs 50 gp. 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.

So even if a Bard were to teach the spell, you would still have to transcribe it into the Wizard's spellbook and thus take the time and costs specified in the book.

Caveat

As always, the DM may allow this to happen in some form, but just know that that decision is neither supported by the rules nor the flavor of the Wizard and does not change what the rules say about it.