Scribing Scrolls

emergent · May 5, 2003

My party has a wizard that wants to scribe some scrolls, but I am a little confused about what he can do and how long it takes. I have a couple of questions that I know you folks can help me with.

1. It says in the DMG that you can scribe 1000 gp/day worth of scrolls. (I don't remember the exact wording -- sorry). Does this mean you can scribe two 500 gp scrolls, 4 250 gp scrolls, etc? So scribing a scroll with a first level spell with a caster level of 1 takes about ten minutes?

2. It also says in the DMG materials for scribing must be "fresh" and "unused?" Can anyone offer clarification as to what these mean? I am guessing "unused" means you can't scribe a scroll on the back of a grocery list or something, but "fresh?" The specific context is the wizard is in a rebel camp in the middle of a swamp. He bought some scribing material several weeks prior, when the party was last in a city. Can he scribe some spells?

Thanks a lot!

Li Shenron · May 5, 2003

1. The general rule for crafting a magic item is that it takes 1 day per every 1000gp of its value, with the minimum of 1 day. So you can craft not more than 1 scroll/day in any case, and it basically takes up all your day's effort (approx 8 hours). Powerful scrolls with higher cost may cost more days. It is not yet clear about scrolls with more spells, according to DMG they are possible (at least the same spell scribed more times on the same scroll), but no clear rules are given.

2. Don't bother too much, it's just to say you can't decrease the scribing cost by scribing on a paper tissue and writing miniature characters or similar ideas

kreynolds · May 5, 2003

emergent said:
1. It says in the DMG that you can scribe 1000 gp/day worth of scrolls.

No. It says "Scribing a scroll requires one day per each 1,000 gp value of the completed scroll."

But, a scroll can have multiple spells on it. There are basically two camps in this argument.

1) A scroll with multiple spells is still a single magic item, thus you can scribe a scroll with multiple spells in a single day if its total market price is 1,000 gp or less.

2) Each spell on the scroll is treated separately, so each spell requires a day to complete, even if its market price is equal to or less than 1,000 gp.

I'm in camp 1.

emergent said:
2. It also says in the DMG materials for scribing must be "fresh" and "unused?" Can anyone offer clarification as to what these mean?

It means that your "writing implements and materials", such as paper, ink, quill, etc cannot have been used for any other previous tasks. It also says that the cost for these materials is subsumed in the cost for scribing the scroll, so you don't really have to worry about it that much, except that the character would need to have these "writing implements and materials" available to him.

emergent said:
So scribing a scroll with a first level spell with a caster level of 1 takes about ten minutes?

This is that whole "camp" thing again. A scroll with multiple spells on it is a single magic item. A scroll with one spell on it is a single magic item. One argument is that even if you scribe a 0-level spell and don't add any more spells to it, then it takes you the whole day to scribe that one scroll. Some people are more flexible on this than others.

emergent · May 5, 2003

Thanks for the help and thanks, kreynolds, for helping with the exact wording of the DMG. That's what happens when you post at work with no books around.

It looks like I will have to decide if I will allow multiple spells to be scribed on one scroll in one day. Those of you who allow this, do you allow for variations in time spent scribing depending on the level of spell? If so, how do you determine how long it takes? I guess I am asking for 'house rule' suggestions here.

Thanks again!

Rel · May 5, 2003

Re: Re: Scribing Scrolls

kreynolds said:
1) A scroll with multiple spells is still a single magic item, thus you can scribe a scroll with multiple spells in a single day if its total market price is 1,000 gp or less.

2) Each spell on the scroll is treated separately, so each spell requires a day to complete, even if its market price is equal to or less than 1,000 gp.

I'm in camp 1.

This is that whole "camp" thing again. A scroll with multiple spells on it is a single magic item. A scroll with one spell on it is a single magic item. One argument is that even if you scribe a 0-level spell and don't add any more spells to it, then it takes you the whole day to scribe that one scroll. Some people are more flexible on this than others.

I'm in camp 1 also. It is rough camping with kreynolds, but sometimes you just have to do it for reasons of intellectual consistency. Just don't sleep in his tent if he's had the beans that night.

The house rule that we use is that you can scribe a number of scrolls (or brew a number of potions) in a day equal to or less than your spellcasting ability bonus SO LONG AS their value does not exceed 1,000 GP. Regardless of how many or how few scrolls you scribe under this limit, it takes 8 hours of your day.

If I was into the "strict rules interpretation" thing more, I'd probably drop the potions bit and stipulate that the spells scribed must all be on one scroll. I'm not so I don't.

kreynolds · May 5, 2003

emergent said:
Those of you who allow this, do you allow for variations in time spent scribing depending on the level of spell?

Yup.

emergent said:
If so, how do you determine how long it takes?

Well, scribing a scroll takes 1 day for every 1,000 gp, right? So, divide that by 8. You get 125. So, a 125 gp scroll takes one hour to complete. A 2nd level scroll with a caster level of three would take just over an hour to write. So, a 1st-level spell with a caster level of one would take just over 20 minutes to scribe.

In my games, when it comes to scrolls, I don't make you stop at one completed scroll. So you can scribe a low level scroll in the morning and then later on in the day as well.

I do the same thing for potions as well (totally house rule territory).

kreynolds · May 5, 2003

Re: Re: Re: Scribing Scrolls

Rel said:
It is rough camping with kreynolds, but sometimes you just have to do it for reasons of intellectual consistency. Just don't sleep in his tent if he's had the beans that night.

Forget the beans. You've got bigger problems to worry about. I sleep in the buff.

Hehe. Bigger. Get it? Bigger? Hehe. I tickled myself.

Rel · May 5, 2003

Re: Re: Re: Re: Scribing Scrolls

kreynolds said:
Forget the beans. You've got bigger problems to worry about. I sleep in the buff.

Even when camping? Haven't you ever seen Fox's: "When Racoons Attack"?

kreynolds · May 5, 2003

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Scribing Scrolls

Rel said:
Even when camping? Haven't you ever seen Fox's: "When Racoons Attack"?

I guess you missed UPN's "When kreynolds Attacks!" When I'm camping, even hibernating bears aren't safe.

emergent · May 5, 2003

Now I am haunted by images of racoons and a naked kreynolds. Yikes!

I think I am going to come down on the strict side of things, ruling that the wizard can only scribe one scroll/day, though that scroll can have multiple spells. As to the number of spells on that scroll, I am tempted to devise something like Rel's method. Although I tried Rel's variant xp system and my players hated it. If I use his suggestion, I'll just disguse the source.

No offense, Rel. I liked your system a lot. My players didn't want the 'extra work'. Slackers

Scribing Scrolls

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