Book of infinite spells

A book of infinite spells was a minor artifact that could grant spell powers even to those not normally able to cast spells.

Description
Despite the name, a book of infinite spells did not in fact have endless spells between its covers. In fact, it only had between 23 and 30 pairs of pages. Each spread contained a single spell. The spells within could be both arcane and divine.

When viewed with the detect magic spell, a book of infinite spells strongly radiated auras from all schools of magic. A typical specimen weighed about.

Powers
Whoever opened the book became its owner, and the owner could cast whatever spell that the book had opened to once per day. If the owner happened to be the type of spellcaster who could typically use the inscribed spell, he or she could cast it four times per day. The owner did not need to read the spell from the page or even have the book in possession. It was enough that the book had last opened to that page.

Casting the spell was in many ways similar to casting a spell from a scroll, only, as was noted above, the book did not actually need to be present, as long as the owner was the last one to have opened it.

It was impossible to turn back a page; one could only turn to the next page, hoping for a more useful spell to follow. There was always also a chance that the book would turn pages on its own, and this chance was greater if the owner was not typically able to cast the page's spell. In the best case, the book would turn its own page after every one in ten castings of the spell. At worst, for example, for a non-spellcaster trying to cast an arcane spell, the page might turn 30% of the time after casting. The pages could "turn" even if the book was hidden away somewhere else and closed. Whenever a page turned, either literally or metaphysically, the owner immediately knew—and also knew the identity of the spell on the new page.

Whenever the book was opened, it would always open to the "current" spell. When the final page of the book was turned, a book of infinite spells vanished into nothing.

While anyone could use a book of infinite spells, they also came with a curse to anyone not trained in magic either divine or arcane; for the time that such owners possessed the book, they were drained of some of their experiences, forgetting skills and abilities that they once had or knew.

It was impossible to copy a spell into a spellbook from a book of infinite spells. Trying to rip a page out destroyed the entire book.

Appearances

 * AD&D Trading Cards
 * Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn