Been awhile...
When you level up (or even at character creation) and are gaining new spells, you roll randomly to determine what spell(s) has turned up in your off-screen research (you're a wizard, you're always researching).
This requires random lists of all possible spells (by level) in whatever system you're using. You may have to make these yourself. (I have such disdain when spells are simply listed without the option of random determination; laziness).
After a spell is rolled and you want to learn it, you need to make a learning check. In AD&D 1E this would be a "chance to know spell" check. In 3.Path, it would be a spellcraft check. If you don't want to learn it, you can pass and roll again (you can only "pass" a number of times equal to your level). You may regret this, because that spell is lost to you until you randomly roll it again or find it in the wild. (Speaking of, if you have a scroll with a spell that you want to learn, you can skip the random roll and try to learn that spell instead. Failure means you didn't learn it and must roll randomly. Success means you learned it and the scroll is destroyed. Critical failures could get interesting, as could critical successes.)
- Spell Books are coveted because they contain a variety of spells you can choose from, thus bypassing random research. But learning rolls must still be made.
If you fail to learn a spell, you record that spell on a list of "spells being learned" and can try again the next time you gain a new spell of that level. This will probably be an easier roll as your skill/intelligence score should/could be higher. If not, a small bonus may be granted each time an attempt is made.
Success on your learning roll means that you've learned the spell, of course.
More flavor... How did you find the spell? (Roll this before you roll for the spell, as it might influence whether or not you choose to learn it).
- Library Research.
- Dream/Meditation.
- Another Wizard. (This might cost you, perhaps 1,000 GP/spell level, but thanks to expert tutelage, this spell is always cast as one level higher).
- Demon/Devil. (Could be a multitude of beings, but as I view magic as black...) Learning the spell from a demonic/devilish source could come with a price such as a contract, blood sacrifice, or physical/mental corruption: Horns, rotting flesh, scars, hooves, etc. (represented mechanically by stat loss), but, the spell is learned with greater potency; cast as 1d4 levels higher.
And just like that, Wizards are infinitely more interesting.
